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DELLA  ROBBIAS  IN  AMERICA 


Princeton  Monographs  in  Art  and  Archaeology  1 


DELLA  ROBBIAS  IN  AMERICA 


BY 

ALLAN  MARQUAND 


PROFESSOR  OF  ART  AND  ARCHAEOLOGY  IN  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 


PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
PRINCETON 
LONDON :  HENRY  FROWDE 
OXFORD    UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
1912 


Copyright,  1912,  by  Princeton  University  Press, 
for  the  United  States  of  America 

Printed  by  Princeton  University  Press, 
l^rincetnn,  X.  J.,  V .  S.  A. 

Published  October,  1912 


TO 

Dr.  Wilhelm  Bode 
the  pioneer  in  robbia  studies 


PREFACE 


When  Cavallucci  and  Molinier  published  in  1884  a  catalogue  of  all  the 
then  known  works  of  the  Delia  Robbias,  four  hundred  and  eighty-one  in 
number,  they  knew  of  only  one  in  America.  By  1902,  when  Miss  Crutt- 
well's  book  on  Luca  and  Andrea  della  Robbia  appeared,  the  total  list  had 
been  increased  to  nearly  eleven  hundred.  Of  these  only  ten  were  in  this 
country.  At  the  present  time  America  is  known  to  possess  more  than 
seventy  examples  of  Della  Robbia  work. 

As  I  have  in  mind  some  day  to  publish  a  general  catalogue  of  all  the 
known  works  of  the  Robbia  School,  I  might  well  defer  until  that  day  the 
puI)lication  of  those  which  have  reached  this  country.  But  as  new  examples 
are  constantly  arriving-  from  Europe,  in  many  cases  improperly  attributed 
and  offered  at  enormous  prices,  I  have  persuaded  myself  that  the  ])resent 
publication  may  be  of  service  to  collectors  in  this  very  special  field  of  art. 
It  is  my  hope  also  that  some  reader  of  this  volume  may  in  turn  render  me 
a  service  and  direct  my  attention  to  Robbias  still  unknown  to  me.  I  take 
this  opportunity  of  thanking  Dr.  W.  R.  Valentiner  of  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art  for  directing  my  attention  to  various  examples  in  private 
collections. 


CONTENTS 

I.     LUCA  DELLA  ROBBIA         ........  I 

II.  Andrea  della  Robbia  ........  29 

III.  Giovanni  della  Robbia       .......  105 

IV.  Miscellaneous  Robbia  Works     .       .       .       .       .  -135 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


1.  Madonna.    Altaian  Collection,  New  York. 

2.  Madonna  and  Angels.    Museo  Nazionale,  Florence. 

3.  Madonna.    Bliss  Collection,  New  York. 

4.  Madonna.   E.  Simon  Collection,  Berlin. 

5.  Madonna.    Shaw  Collection,  Jamaica  Plain. 

6.  Nativity.    Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 

7.  Nativity.    Otto  H.  Kaiin  Collection,  New  York. 

8.  Madonna  and  Angels.   J.  P.  Morgan  Collection,  New  York. 

9.  Madonna.    Shaw  Collection,  Jamaica  Plain. 

10.  Monk  Reading.   Victoria  and  Albert  Muselim,  London. 

11.  Madonna.    Mrs.  O.  H.  P.  Belmont  Collection,  Newport. 

12.  Madonna.    S.  Gaetano,  Florence. 

13.  Madonna.    S.  Egidio,  Florence. 

14.  Madonna.    Shaw  Collection,  Jamaica  Plain. 

15.  Madonna.    Canessa  Galleries,  New  York. 

16.  Madonna.    Canessa  Galleries,  New  York. 

17.  Madonna.    W.  C.  Endicott,  Jr.  CoLLEtTioN,  Boston. 

18.  Madonna.   J.  S.  Bache  Collection,  New  York. 

19.  Madonna.   Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Bo.ston. 

20.  Madonna.    Piazza  dell'  Unita  Italiana,  Florence. 

21.  Madonna.    Art  Museum,  Princeton  University. 

22.  Madonna.    Prince  Liechtenstein  Collection,  Vienna. 

23.  Madonna.    Mrs.  Vanderbilt  Collection,  New  York. 

24.  Madonna.    Museo  Nazionale,  Florence. 

25.  Madonna.   Chapel  at  Baragazza. 

26.  Madonna.   R.  S.  INIinturn  Collection,  New  York. 

27.  Adoration.    La  Verna. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


28.  Adoration.    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore. 

29.  Adoration,  M.  A.  Ryerson  Collection,  Chicago. 

30.  Adoration.    S.  Untermyer  Collection,  Yonkers. 

31.  Adoration.   E.  J.  Berwind  Collection,  Newport. 

32.  Assumption  and  Saints.    Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York. 

33.  Madonna  della  Cintola.  Foiano. 

34.  Fragment  of  Angel.    Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 

35.  Cherub  Head.   E.  J.  Berwind  Collection,  Newport. 

36.  Nativity.    Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York. 

37.  Head  of  Young  Man.   Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York. 

38.  Boy  with  a  Dolphin.   E.  C.  Hoyt  Collection,  New  York. 

39.  Ciborium.    SS.  Apostoli,  Florence. 

40.  Ciborium.    Mrs.  J.  L.  Gardner  Collection,  Boston. 

41.  Ciborium.   M.  A.  Ryerson  Collection,  Chicago. 

42.  Kneeling  Madonna.    Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York. 

43.  Madonna  and  Angels.   S.  Maria  Novella,  Florence. 

44.  Resurrection.    Brooklyn  Institute. 

45.  The  Temptation.    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore. 

46.  Bust  of  a  Young  Saint.    Worcester  Art  Museum. 

47.  Head  of  Christ.   Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 

48.  Lamentation.    Mrs.  J.  L.  Gardner  Collection,  Boston. 

49.  Lamentation.    Museo  Nazionale,  Florence. 

50.  Lamentation.    Bonaventure  Gallery,  New  York. 

51.  La  Maddalena.    Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 

52.  Madonna.   E.  J.  Berwind  Collection,  Newport. 

53.  ]\L\D0NNA  AND  SaINTS.     S.  JaCOPO  DI  RiPOLI,  FLORENCE. 

54.  Vase  and  Fruit.    P.  M.  Lydig  Collection,  New  York. 

55.  Madonna.    Goldschmidt  Galleries,  New  York. 

56.  I\L\D0NNA  AND  SaINTS.     S.  MaRIA  DELLA  QuERCIA,  ViTERBO. 

57.  Adoration.    P.  M.  Lydig  Collection,  New  York. 

58.  Nativity.    E.  Bradley  Collection,  Washington. 

59.  Holy  Family.   C.  P.  Taft  Collection,  Cincinnati. 

60.  Nativity.    Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 

61.  Nativity  and  Saints.    Museo  Nazionale,  Florence. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


62.  Head  of  a  Child.    C.  P.  Taft  Collection,  Cincinnati. 

63.  Madonna.    C.  P.  Taft  Collection,  Cincinnati. 

64.  Madonna.    P.  M.  Lydig  Collection,  New  York. 

65.  Madonna.    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore. 

66.  Madonna.    P.  M.  Lydig  Collection,  New  York. 

67.  Madonna  and  Saints.    Metropolitan  Museum,  New  Yor 

68.  Madonna  and  Saints.    Innocenti  Hospital,  Florence. 

69.  Madonna  and  Angels.    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore. 

70.  Madonna.    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore. 

71.  Madonna.    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore. 

72.  Madonna.    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore. 


I 


LUCA  BELLA  ROBBIA 
1 399- 1 482. 

The  works  of  Luca  della  Robbia  are  almost  entirely  confined  to  Flor- 
ence, and  one  who  has  not  studied  them  in  the  Cathedral  and  the  Opera  del 
Duomo,  at  Or  San  Michele  and  in  the  Pazzi  Chapel,  at  S.  Miniato  and 
S.  Trinita,  and  the  collection  gathered  in  the  Museo  Nazionale,  can  hardly 
expect  to  understand  his  spirit  and  the  quality  of  his  work.  The  limited 
area  of  his  activity  is  the  more  remarkable  when  we  consider  the  centrifugal 
character  of  the  Florentine  school  of  his  day.  Outside  of  Florence  when 
we  have  mentioned  the  lunette  at  Urbino,  the  tabernacles  at  Inipruneta  and 
Peretola,  the  altarpiece  at  Pescia,  and  perhaps  the  vaulted  ceiling  at  S. 
Giobbe,  Venice,  we  have  about  exhausted  the  list  of  Luca  della  Robbia's 
works  to  be  found  in  Italy.  Vasari's  statement  that  he  executed  com- 
missions for  the  Duke  of  Calabria  has  yet  to  be  verified.  Outside  of  Italy 
a  few  works  by  Luca  della  Robbia  have  drifted  to  Berlin,  London,  Paris, 
Vienna  and  Copenhagen,  and  it  is  fortunate  for  us  that  several  have  found 
their  way  to  America. 

I.    Madoiuia  and  Child  ivitJi  a  Scroll  (Figs.  1-2). 

Fortunate  is  the  country  which  possesses  so  characteristic  an  example 
of  Luca  della  Robbia's  work  as  the  Madonna  which  has  recently  enriched 
the  collection  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Altman  of  New  York  (Fig.  i).  It  was  for- 
merly in  the  collection  of  Count  Leonello  di  Nobili,  IHorence,  but  was  ])ut 
on  sale  in  Paris  and  London  for  several  years  before  a  purchaser  was 
found.  ^ 

'Bode,  Zcitschrift.  fiir  bildendc  Kitiist,  xxi  (1910),  p.  306. 


2 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


The  Madonna  is  erect  in  pose,  reminding  us  of  Luca's  lunette  composi- 
tions in  which  she  appears  between  two  angels  or  saints.  Of  these  lunettes 
none  is  more  beautiful  than  the  one  formerly  in  the  Via  dell'  Agnolo  and 
now  in  the  Museo  Nazionale,  Florence.-  The  Altman  Madonna  has  no 
background,  but  is  set  upon  a  low  base  and  might  well  have  been  placed  in 
a  niche.  The  base  is  a  rich  blue  in  colour  and  has  its  corners  cut  away, 
as  is  the  case  with  several  of  Luca's  Madonnas.  Our  Lady  is  represented  in 
life  size  and  three  quarter  length.  The  type  with  oval  head,  broad  fore- 
head, gray  eyes,^  straight  nose,  small  half  opened  mouth,  and  pointed  chin 
may  be  paralleled  by  several  of  Luca's  Madonnas,  but  by  none  more  closely 
than  by  the  Via  dell'  Agnolo  Madonna  (Fig.  2).  It  was  probably  inspired 
by  the  same  model. 

We  may  notice  that  she  wears  a  kerchief  falling  to  her  shoulders  and  a 
cloak  fastened  by  cords.  The  kerchief  occurs  in  a  number  of  Luca's  Ma- 
donnas of  his  best  period.  In  the  present  instance  it  has  a  fluted  border. 
The  cloak  is  drawn  together  at  the  neck  by  two  cords,  each  of  which  is 
provided  with  two  tassels.  Luca  was  evidently  charmed  by  this  method  of 
fastening  the  cloak,  for  in  the  medallion  of  S.  Jacopo  Minore  in  the  Pazzi 
Chapel,  and  in  that  of  Temperance  in  the  Cluny  Museum,  he  makes  use  of 
a  button  and  a  tassel ;  and  in  the  Madonna  of  the  Bronze  Doors  he  uses  a 
single  cord  with  a  pair  of  tassels.  In  the  present  example  the  fastening  is 
at  once  more  complex  and  more  charming,  and  the  cloak  with  its  simple 
folds  has  attained  the  height  of  naturalism.  The  Child  is  firmly  held  on  his 
mother's  left  arm,  and,  like  the  Child  of  the  Bronze  Doors,'*  is  lightly 
draped,  blesses  with  his  right  hand,  and  holds  in  his  left  a  scroll  inscribed 
EGO  SVM  LVX  MVNDI. 

On  three  other  occasions  did  Luca  della  Robbia  make  a  Madonna  with 
the  Child  holding  a  scroll  similarly  inscribed — in  the  lunette  from  the  Via 
deir  Agnolo,  in  that  of  S.  Domenico  at  Urbino,  and  in  the  Madonna  in  the 
Innocenti  Hospital,  Florence.  In  none  of  these  instances  is  the  scroll  as 
graceful  as  it  is  in  the  Altman  Madonna.^    The  lettering  in  this  inscription 

'Bode,  Denkmiiler  dcr  Renaissance-Scniptur  Toscanas,  Taf.  208;  Florentine  Sculptors 
of  the  Renaissance,  PI.  3q;  Cruttwell,  Ltica  and  Andrea  della  Robbia,  p.  125;  Marcel 
Reymond,  Les  Della  Robbia,  p.  105;  Schubring,  Luca  della  Robbia,  Abb.  71. 

^  The  eyes  have  slightly  greenish  gray  irises,  as  in  the  Frescobaldi  Madonna  in  the 
Berlin  Museum  (No.  116N.). 

*  Bode,  Denkmdler,  Taf.  214;  Florentine  Sculptors,  PI.  36;  Cruttwell,  op.  cit.,  pp.  80-88; 
Marcel  Reymond,  op.  cit.,  pp.  36-38;  Schubring,  op.  cit.,  Abb.  47-51. 

'"  A  similar  scroll  of  double  curvature  may  be  seen  in  the  predella  of  Luca's  Altar  of  the 
Holy  Cross  at  Impruneta. 


Figure  i. — Madonna.   Altman  Collection,  New  York. 


Figure  2. — Madonna  and  Angels.   Museo  Nazionale,  Florence. 


LUCA    DELLA  ROBBIA 


7 


is  very  close  in  style  to  that  in  the  Via  dell'  Agnolo  lunette.  The  Altman 
Madonna  was  made  by  Luca  della  Robbia  at  a  time  when  a  woman  of  a 
shy,  youthful  type  still  made  a  strong  appeal  to  him,  and  when  gracefulness 
of  line,  modelling,  and  detail  received  more  than  usual  care.  Its  date  can- 
not be  far  removed  from  that  of  the  Via  dell'  Agnolo  lunette.*^ 

2.    The  Madonna  of  the  Niche  (Figs.  3-4). 

Another  monument  in  this  country  which,  without  hesitation,  may  be 
attributed  to  Luca  della  Robbia  is  the  Madonna  in  the  collection  of  Mrs. 
George  T.  Bliss  of  New  York  (Fig.  3).  This  relief  passed  from  the  col- 
lection of  M.  £mile  Gavet  of  Paris  into  that  of  the  late  Henry  G.  Mar- 
quand  of  New  York,  and  was  purchased  by  Mrs.  Bliss  at  the  sale  of  the 
Marquand  collection  in  1903.  The  Madonna  is  one  of  unusual  charm, 
even  when  brought  into  comparison  with  other  Madonnas  by  Luca  della 
Robbia.  She  is  figured  in  a  niche  capped  by  a  semi-dome.  The  Madonna 
and  Child  are  white,  the  niche,  semi-dome,  and  frame,  a  turquoise  blue 
enamel.  Gold  lines  divide  the  dome  and  niche  into  a  series  of  panellings, 
and  rich  floral  scrolls  with  two  coats  of  arms  are  gilded  on  the  outer  borders 
of  the  relief.    All  this  decoration  is  painted,  not  enamelled. 

The  niche  is  an  unusual  feature  in  Robbia  works.  Its  ribbed  char- 
acter may  have  been  suggested  to  Luca's  mind  by  the  forms  of  Gothic 
architecture,  such  as  the  ribbed  niches  on  the  Campanile,  or  by  the  shell 
capped  niches  on  Ghiberti's  second  Baptistery  Gates.  The  turquoise  blue 
is  also  an  vmusual  feature.  We  find  Luca  experimenting  with  different 
shades  of  blue  on  the  well  known  Madonna  of  the  Apple  in  the  Museo 
Nazionale.  His  sense  for  quality  of  colour  seems  to  have  developed 
slowly  but  surely,  and  is  finely  illustrated  in  the  Medallion  of  the  Stone 
Masons,  and  in  the  Medallion  of  the  Merchants,  on  the  exterior  of  Or  San 
Michele.  No  other  member  of  the  Robbia  school  possessed  such  a  colour 
sense.  It  is  possible  that  the  gilded  floral  scroll  on  the  frame  is  a  recent 
addition,  but  it  follows  well  known  motives  exhibited  elsewhere  on  Luca's 
works.  He  was  not  blind  to  the  charm  of  Byzantine  and  Gothic  floriated 
patterns.  When  we  examine  the  figures,  we  find  here  also  the  type  with 
which  we  are  so  familiar  in  his  representations  of  the  Virgin :  her  oval 

'Marcel  Reymond  assigns  this  lunette  to  the  decade  I450-I4rx);  Venturi  to  about  1450; 
Bode  to  before  1443;  in  the  American  Journal  of  Archaeology,  ix  (1894),  pp.  2,  12,  I 
assigned  it  to  the  decade  1430-1440. 


8 


BELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


face  with  gray  blue  eyes,  the  partially  opened  mouth,  hei'  waving  hair 
covered  by  a  light  veil,  her  plain  gown  and  mantle  falling  in  naturalistic 
folds,  from  which,  however,  Gothic  conventions  are  not  wholly  gone. 
The  nude  Child  and  his  mother  form  a  compact  group,  a  marked  pyramidal 
composition.  It  may  be  observed  that  if  we  read  the  group  from  left  to 
right,  the  Madonna  is  figured  first,  then  the  Child.  Such  is  the  case  al- 
most invariably  with  Luca's  Madonnas.  His  nephew  Andrea  reversed  the 
position,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  placed  the  Child  to  the  left  and  the 
mother  to  the  right.  The  pyramidal  character  and  the  compactness  of  the 
composition  is  also  more  characteristic  of  Luca.  Andrea's  effort  to  empha- 
size the  Child  was  often  effected  at  the  expense  of  the  composition. 

There  are  two  Madonna  types,  generally  admitted  to  be  Luca's,  with 
which  the  Bliss  Madonna  has  strong  affinities.  One  is  the  Madonna  of  the 
Apple,  in  the  Museo  Nazionale,  of  which  there  is  an  interesting  variant  in 
the  Berlin  Museum.  In  these  the  Madonna,  the  Child,  and  the  treatment 
of  the  drapery,  are  closely  analogous  to  those  of  the  Bliss  Madonna,  al- 
though as  a  whole  se\'erer,  less  human,  and  less  maternal.  The  other  type  is 
the  Madonna  with  a  draped,  standing  child.  Of  this  there  are  several  ex- 
amples, two  in  Berlin,  one  in  Vienna,  and  one  in  the  Florence  Museum.  Dr. 
Bode  has  published  a  very  instructive  comparativ^e  study  of  them  in  the 
MiincJicncr  Jahrbiich  dcr  bildenden  Kiinst,  I  (1906),  pp.  28-32.  The  best, 
which  we  reproduce  here  (Fig.  4),  is  in  the  collection  of  Dr.  Eduard  Simon 
in  Berlin. 

5.    Another  Madonna  of  the  Niche  (Fig.^). 

There  is  also  in  this  country  a  replica  of  the  Bliss  Madonna,  in  the 
collection  of  Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw,  Jamaica  Plain,  Mass.  This  is 
al)out  the  same  size  as  the  Bliss  Madonna  and  is  slightly  inferior  to  it 
in  modelling.  It  may  be  observed,  for  example,  that  the  fingers  of  the 
Child's  right  hand,  clearly  visible  in  the  Bliss  Madonna,  are  here  indis- 
tinctly indicated.  It  is  probable  that  this  example  was  a  second  cast  from 
the  same  mould.  Besides  the  difference  in  modelling,  other  variations 
may  be  noticed.  The  Child  here  is  entirely  nude  and  the  Virgin's  mantle 
serves  more  completely  as  a  background  for  the  lower  part  of  his  body. 
The  niche  also  has  been  modified.  It  has  fewer  panellings.  These  are  blue 
in  colour,  and  are  separated  by  ribs  of  turquoise  blue.  In  the  spandrels  of 
the  face  of  the  frame,  green  is  introduced,  and  the  circular  disks,  which  may 


Figure  3. — Madonna.    Bliss  Collection,  New  York. 


Figure  4.— Madonna.    E.  Simon  Collection,  Berlin. 


Figure  5. — Madonna.   Shaw  Collection,  Jamaica  Plain. 


LUCA    DELLA  ROBBIA 


once  have  been  ornamented  with  coats  of  arms,  are  now  empty.  Much  of 
the  ancient  gilding  has  disappeared,  but  traces  of  it  are  found  in  the  hair 
of  both  Virgin  and  Child,  on  the  girdle  and  on  the  borders  of  the  Virgin's 
mantle,  and  at  various  places  on  the  niche  and  frame.  On  the  whole  this 
is  not  quite  so  fine  an  example  of  Luca's  handiwork  as  the  Bliss  Madonna. 
Some  critics  would  be  satisfied  with  saying  that  it  is  a  copy  of  the  other 
and  hence  to  be  relegated  to  the  unattributed  limbo  of  the  Robbia  School. 
But  in  my  judgment  it  is  a  replica  made  in  Luca's  atelier  under  his  super- 
vision, and  if  signatures  had  been  customary  in  such  works  it  would  have 
borne  Luca's  signature. 

In  assigning  a  date  to  the  Bliss  Madonna,  I  once  put  it  as  in  the  decade 
from  1 430- 1 440.'''  Possibly  this  is  too  early  and  Dr.  Bode  may  be  wiser 
in  assigning  it  to  about  1450.  Certainly  M.  Marcel  Reymond  is  wrong 
in  assigning  it  to  the  early  years  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  in  attributing 
it  to  Andrea  della  Robbia.*  Andrea's  Madonnas  of  the  years  1489,  1505 
and  1509  are  well  known  to  us  by  documented  examples  still  existing  in 
the  Opera  del  Duomo  in  Florence,  over  the  entrance  of  the  Duomo  at 
Pistoia,  and  over  the  portal  of  Santa  Maria  della  Quercia  at  Viterbo  (Fig. 
56).  These  show  to  us  that  Andrea's  Madonnas,  especially  in  the  early 
3'ears  of  the  sixteenth  century,  were  far  removed  in  type  from  the  Bliss  and 
Shaw  Madonnas. 

4.    The  Nativity  zvith  Gloria  in  Excclsis  (Fig.6). 

In  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  may  be  seen  a  Nativity,  loaned 
by  Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw,  which  reflects  the  style  of  Luca  della  Robbia. 
We  may  notice  that  four  adoring  angels  appear  in  the  sky.  This  is  not  an 
imcommon  feature  in  Luca's  works.  Adoring  angels  occur  in  the  predella 
of  the  Tabernacle  of  the  Holy  Cross  at  Impruneta,®  and  in  a  very  beautiful 
Adoration  in  the  collection  of  M.  Foulc,  Paris. The  angels  in  the  Shaw 
Nativity  bear  a  general  resemblance  to  the  Impruneta  angels  and  are  sing- 
ing the  Gloria  in  Excelsis.  The  Madonna  and  S.  Giuseppe  recall  Luca  della 
Robbia  types.    The  head  of  the  Virgin  is  modelled  along  the  same  lines  as 

^American  Journal  of  Archaeology,  ix  (1894),  p.  14. 
'  Les  Della  Robbia,  p.  204. 

'Bode,  Denkmdler  der  Renaissance  Sculptur  Toscanas,  Taf.  234;  Cruttwell,  Luca 
and  Andrea  della  Robbia,  p.  113;  Marcel  Reymond,  Les  Della  Robbia,  pp.  78-79;  Schu- 
bring,  Luca  della  Robbia,  Abb.  56. 

"  Bode,  Denkmdler,  Taf.  231 ;  Schubring,  of.  cit.,  Abb.  96. 


i6 


BELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


the  Prudence  in  the  ceihng  of  the  Portogallo  Chapel  at  San  Miniato.  But 
the  poses  of  the  Virgin  and  S.  Giuseppe  are  somewhat  unstable,  and  the 
sculptor  has  not  clearly  expressed  the  basket  or  manger.  We  must  ac- 
cordingly assign  this  relief  to  some  worker  in  Luca's  atelier  rather  than  to 
the  master  himself.  The  same  pupil's  hand  may  be  recognized  in  two  re- 
liefs in  the  Museo  Nazionale  (Nos.  21  and  48),  another  in  the  Palazzo 
Bianco,  Genoa,  and  still  another  purchased  recently  by  Mr.  Otto  H.  Kahn 
of  New  York. 

5.  The  Nativity  zvith  adoring  Angels  (Fig.  /). 

The  Nativity  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Otto  H.  Kahn,  New  York,  is 
evidently  by  the  same  hand  as  the  preceding  relief,  for  there  is  the  same 
blue  sky,  the  same  splashy  clouds,  the  same  mode  of  indicating  hay  and 
a  similar  wicker  basket.  Here  the  Child  is  more  natural  and  is  quite  charm- 
ing as  he  plays  with  his  drapery  and  gazes  timidly  at  the  spectator.  The 
ox  and  ass  show  the  same  eager  interest  in  the  event.  It  may  be  noticed 
that  the  figures  are  reversed,  S.  Giuseppe  appearing  to  the  left  and  the 
Virgin  to  the  right.  Even  the  ox  and  ass  have  changed  places.  The  four 
angels  are  separated  into  groups  of  two,  only  three  of  whom  are  intently 
gazing  upon  the  Child.  Dr.  Bode  compares  this  relief  with  the  one  pre- 
sented by  Herr  von  Beckerath  to  the  Museum  at  Krefeld,"  with  which  it 
certainly  has  much  in  common.  The  Kahn  Nativity  betrays  a  striving  for 
novelty.  The  large  basket  which  contains  the  Child  is  set  so  far  to  the 
left  that  scant  room  remains  for  S.  Giuseppe,  and  it  is  not  very  clear 
whether  he  is  on  his  knees  or  standing  on  a  lower  level.  His  pose  be- 
hind the  crib  puts  him  almost  in  a  second  plane  of  the  relief.  Possibly 
this  accounts  for  his  being  apparently  shorter  than  the  Virgin.  The  angels 
of  this  relief,  when  compared  with  those  on  the  predella  of  the  Altar  of 
the  Holy  Cross  at  Impruneta,  exhibit  the  difference  between  atelier  work 
and  that  which  comes  directly  from  the  hand  of  a  master.  The  charm 
which  the  Kahn  Nativity  undoubtedly  possesses  reflects  in  great  measure 
the  style  and  methods  of  Luca  della  Robbia. 

6.  Lunette  of  the  Madonna  and  adoring  Angels  (Fig.  8). 

As  recently  as  the  year  1910  Mr.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  of  New  York, 
brought  to  this  country  a  small  lunette  containing  a  very  attractive  Ma- 

^  Zeitschrift  fur  bildende  Kuiist,  xxi  (1910),  p.  307. 


Figure  6. — Nativity.    Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 


Figure  7. — Nativity.    Otto  H.  Kahn  Collection,  New  York. 


Figure  8. — Madonna  and  Angels.   J.  P.  Morgan  Collection,  New  York. 


LUCA    BELLA  ROBBIA 


21 


donna  and  Child  between  two  adoring  angels.  It  belonged  to  the  Antinori 
family  of  Florence,  and  once  stood  above  the  door  of  the  small  oratory  of 
S.  Maria  della  Quercia  at  Legnaia.^- 

The  quiet  dignity  of  the  Madonna,  the  simple  masses  of  her  drapery,  the 
presence  of  adoring  angels  with  folded  arms,  the  fact  that  none  of  the 
figures  wear  haloes  have  led  even  experienced  critics  to  attribute  this  relief 
to  Luca  della  Robbia.^^  In  a  general  way  it  does  recall  to  our  minds  Luca's' 
two  lunettes  in  the  Museo  Nazionale,  and  the  type  of  the  Madonna  is 
not  unlike  a  Madonna  by  Luca  in  the  collection  of  Madame  Andre  in  Paris. 
Nevertheless,  this  attribution  aj^pears  to  me  impossible  for  many  reasons. 
In  the  first  place  the  general  treatment  of  the  theme  lacks  the  sincerity 
which  characterizes  all  of  Luca's  work.  This  is  especially  evident  in  the 
adoring  angels,  whose  piety  is  that  of  a  studied  pose,  not  the  inevitable  ex- 
pression of  pure  devotion.  Their  draperies  are  arranged  with  obvious  at- 
tention to  the  flow  of  line  and  show  of  limbs,  not,  as  Luca's,  composed  of 
natural  falling  folds. 

Secondly  the  composition,  a  Madonna  with  a  nude  standing  Child  hold- 
ing a  bird  is  a  motive  which  was  frequently  used  by  Andrea  della  Robbia 
and  his  followers.  Several  examples  in  America  we  shall  consider  later. 
The  prototype  of  this  series  appears  to  be,  not  this  lunette,  but  Andrea's 
A^adonna  at  S.  Egidio  (Fig.  14),  which  shows  the  Child's  head,  as  in  some 
of  Luca's  Madonnas,  in  close  contact  with  that  of  his  mother.  His  arm  is 
about  her  neck  and  yet  the  fingers  do  not  show.  At  Stia  there  is  a  very 
charming  Madonna,  made  probably  under  Andrea's  supervision,  in  which 
the  Child  is  given  a  somewhat  more  independent  position ;  a  portion  of  the 
left  arm  is  brought  into  view,  but  still  the  tips  of  the  fingers  do  not  show.^^ 
In  the  Morgan  lunette  the  Child  is  still  further  separated  from  his  mother, 
but  in  spite  of  this  his  fingers,  and  very  large  ones,  are  plainly  represented 
on  his  mother's  neck.  This  elongated  left  arm  of  the  Child,  with  its  enor- 
mous fingers,  is  a  defect  which  when  realized  detracts  considerably  from  the 
beauty  of  the  lunette. 

We  might  mention  further  a  number  of  qualities  in  which  this  lunette 
differs  from  the  works  of  Luca  della  Robbia:  the  Child  is  here  placed  to  the 

"  Carocci,  /  Dintorni  di  Firenze,  ii,  p.  392. 

'''Bode,  Zeitschrift  fiir  bildende  Kunst,  xxi  (1910),  p.  305. 

"  Schubring,  Luca  della  Robbia,  Abb.  117. 


22 


DELLA   ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


left,  as  was  customary  with  Andrea  and  his  followers,  but  rare  in  Luca's 
works:  the  treatment  of  the  hair  is  less  plastic;  the  Madonna's  nose  is 
united  with  broad  sweeps  to  the  eyebrows  in  a  way  not  to  be  found  in 
Luca's  heads;  her  eyes  are  coloured  without  distinction  of  pupil  and  iris,  a 
characteristic  carelessness  of  the  later  members  of  the  school ;  and  her 
mouth,  instead  of  being  small  and  open,  is  large  and  firmly  closed.  Hence, 
until  some  other  examples  of  strictly  analogous  character  are  brought  to 
our  attention,  we  are  inclined  to  attribute  it  vaguely  to  some  unknown  fol- 
lower of  Luca  della  Robbia. 

7.    Seated  Madonna  with  nude  Child  plucking  Lilies  (Fig.  p). 

This  Madonna,  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw  at  Jamaica 
Plain,  Mass.,  is  a  variant  of  a  well  known  type,  one  example  of  which  is  in 
the  church  of  S.  Andrea  at  Rovezzano.  Other  examples  are  in  the  collec- 
tions of  Prince  Liechtenstein,  Vienna,  Mrs.  Holman  Hunt,  London,  Dr. 
Eduard  Simon,  Berlin,  and  later  polychromatic  variants  in  Herr  Adolf  von 
Beckerath's  collection,  Berlin,  and  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  Lon- 
don. In  the  primary  conception  of  this  composition  the  Madonna  is  seated 
upon  a  cushion,  the  two  tassels  of  which  are  distinctly  visible.  These  are 
seen  in  the  Rovezzano,  Liechtenstein  and  Shaw  examples.  The  cushion 
rests  on  a  light  green  sward  on  which  are  quaintly  painted  yellow  plants  or 
flowers.  On  the  Madonna's  head  is  a  kerchief  rolled  and  twisted  so  as  to 
resemble  a  turban.  The  Simon  example  is  one  stage  removed  from  the 
original  conception.  The  cushion  on  which  the  Madonna  is  seated  has  lost 
its  tassels  and  appears  as  an  unintelligible  mass  of  white.  The  turban  is 
replaced  by  a  veil.  In  the  next  stage,  represented  by  the  polychromatic 
examples  in  London  and  Berlin,  the  cushion  is  forgotten  and  the  Virgin  is 
seated  on  a  rock. 

The  Shaw  example  has  one  detail  lacking  in  the  others.  Three  halt 
figures  of  angels  with  folded  hands  appear  in  the  sky,  some  of  the  blue  of 
which  is  carelessly  smeared  across  their  bodies.  The  angels  are  not 
modelled  with  the  care  we  are  accustomed  to  expect  from  a  master  hand. 

When  we  consider  further  the  type  of  the  Virgin,  and  especially  the  un- 
skilful articulation  of  her  right  leg,  we  feel  again  that  the  entire  production 
is  not  quite  masterly.  Yet  the  inspiration  of  the  relief  appears  to  have  come 
from  Luca  himself:  in  composition  it  is  not  far  removed  from  the  Madonna 


Figure  9. — Madonna.    Shaw  Collection,  Jamaica  Plai 


LUCA    BELLA  ROBBIA 


25 


with  the  Child  plucking  Roses  in  the  Museo  Nazionale.  It  may  accordingly 
be  said  to  have  come  from  Luca's  atelier  rather  than  to  be  the  work  of  his 
own  hand,  and  to  have  been  produced  at  a  time  when  repetitions  of  his 
compositions  were  in  constant  demand. 

8.    A  Monk  Reading  (Fig.  10). 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  John  G.  Johnson  of  Philadelphia,  is  an  unglazed 
terra-cotta  plaque  representing  a  Monk  reading  at  his  desk.  It  is  an  exact 
replica  of  a  relief  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  attributed  to  Luca 
della  Robbia.^*'  In  style  it  reminds  us  strongly  of  the  S.  Girolamo  of 
Luca's  Bronze  Doors  in  the  Cathedral  at  Florence.  The  construction  of  the 
figure,  the  bench  and  its  mouldings,  and  the  cast  of  the  draperies  are 
sufficiently  like  Luca's  to  make  such  an  attribution  appear  probable.  On  the 
other  hand  the  London  example  came  from  the  Campana  collection,  known 
to  have  contained  many  forgeries,  and  the  Johnson  example  is  apparently 
an  exact  replica  cast  from  the  same  mould,  without  such  variations  in 
detail  which  we  should  expect  in  the  replicas  of  Luca's  day.  Mr.  Johnson 
attributes  his  plaque  to  Bastianini,  a  nineteenth  century  sculptor  who  de- 
ceived the  world  by  his  creations  in  fifteenth  century  style.  This  attribu- 
tion may  be  correct,  though  difficult  to  prove. 


There  are  a  number  of  works  of  sculpture  in  this  country  attributed  to 
Luca  della  Robbia,  but  having  no  relation  to  his  style. 

One  of  these  is  a  beautiful  bust  in  the  collection  of  Mrs.  John  L.  Gardner, 
Boston,  labelled  "  Bust  of  Marietta  Strozzi  by  Desiderio  da  Settignano,  glazed 
by  Luca  della  Robbia."  That  the  bust  represents  Marietta  Strozzi  may  be  ac- 
cepted from  the  resemblance  to  the  two  busts  of  her  which  came  from  the 
Strozzi  palace  and  are  now  in  the  Berlin  Museum  and  in  the  library  of  Mr. 
J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  New  York.  I  find  it,  however,  difficult  to  believe  that 
Desiderio  himself  should  have  made  a  bust  of  this  form,  pointed  at  the  base 
and  set  on  a  pedestal.  Florentine  busts  of  the  fifteenth  century  were  termi- 
nated with  a  horizontal  section  broad  enough  to  rest  without  a  special  support 
or  pedestal.  Nor  can  I  believe  that  this  bust  was  glazed  by  Luca  della  Robbia. 
The  enamel  is  composed  of  too  finely  ground  material,  is  too  vitreous  in  surface, 
and  too  milky  white  in  colour.    Nor  would  Luca  have  left  the  eyes  uncoloured. 

Another  work  is  an  unglazed  Madonna  in  a  niche,  published  by  Paul 
Schubring^^  as  belonging  to  Bardini,  Florence,  and  attributed  to  Luca  della 
Robbia  (  ?).  His  attribution  and  its  query  we  believe  may  be  removed.  The 
Madonna  exhibits  none  of  Luca's  specific  characteristics,  although  it  may  well 
be  by  some  Florentine  sculptor  of  the  Renaissance  period.  The  Madonna  is 
now  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Charles  W.  Gould  of  New  York. 

"Robinson,  Italian  Sculfture  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  p.  54.    Cavallucci  and 
Molinier,  Les  della  Robbia,  p.  264. 
"  Luca  della  Robbia,  Abb.  92. 


Figure  io. — Monk  Reading. 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  London. 


II 


ANDREA  BELLA  ROBBIA 
1435-1525 


Andrea  della  Robbia  extended  the  work  of  his  uncle  in  various  direc- 
tions. Luca  worked  chiefly  for  Florence,  while  the  works  of  Andrea  were 
widely  distributed.  In  Florence  we  obtain  a  very  inadequate  notion  of  the 
capabilities  of  Andrea  della  Robbia.  We  must  visit  an  almost  subterranean 
shrine  in  San  Gaetano  and  the  church  of  the  hospital  of  Santa  Maria  Nuova 
to  find  adequate  examples  of  his  Madonnas.  To  be  sure  Andrea  is  charm- 
ingly represented  in  Florence  by  the  bambini  of  the  Innocenti  Hospital,  but 
to  know  him  at  his  best  we  must  visit  Prato  and  Siena,  Montepulciano, 
Foiano,  and  Arezzo,  and  above  all  climb  to  the  summit  of  La  Verna,  where 
we  find  his  masterpieces  in  a  series  of  splendid  altarpieces.  Luca's  work 
was  in  great  measure  concerned  with  the  decoration  of  lunettes,  vaults,  and 
of  exterior  walls.  Andrea  continued  this  work  but  more  frequently  was 
called  upon  to  supply  altarpieces,  large  and  small,  reliefs  for  wayside  shrines 
and  for  private  chapels.  Luca  made  few  statues  in  the  round;  these  are 
more  frequently  represented  in  the  work  of  Andrea.  Among  the  most 
beautiful  of  Luca's  works  are  his  Madonnas,  timid  and  shy,  but  true  to  his 
lofty  ideal  of  womanhood.  Andrea  was  eminently  qualified  to  follow  in 
this  line,  and  his  reliefs  rank  with  the  most  beautiful  of  all  representations 
of  the  Madonna.  Our  Lady,  however,  is  no  longer  representative  of  the 
plain  people.  She  is  seated  on  a  more  or  less  elaborately  carved  chair. 
She  wears  garments  of  finer  material,  sometimes  highly  decorated  with 
floral  ornament.  The  backgrounds  vividly  suggest  an  open  sky  with  clouds 
in  which  appear  the  Sacred  Dove  or  adoring  angels.  Cherub  heads  are 
introduced  into  the  frames  and  the  garlands  of  fruit  and  flowers  are  con- 


20  BELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 

ventionalized  into  a  more  stereotyped  system  of  decoration.  Such  char- 
acteristics will  appear  more  clearly  as  we  consider  his  works  in  detail. 


p.    Seated  Madonna  with  draped  Child  blessing  (Figs.  11-12). 

A  very  beautiful  Madonna  is  in  the  collection  of  Mrs.  O.  H.  P.  Belmont 
in  Newport,  R.  I.,  having  been  purchased  from  M.  fimile  Gavet,  Paris 
(Fig.  11).  As  with  the  best  of  Andrea's  works  the  figures  are  white 
against  a  characteristic  blue  ground.  A  little  black  is  used  for  the  shadows 
of  the  clouds,  blue  for  the  eyebrows  and  eyelids,  and  yellow  for  the  irises. 
Otherwise  we  have  only  white  and  blue,  although  the  border  of  the  Virgin's 
mantle  and  her  girdle  were  once  ornamented  with  gold. 

It  may  be  noticed  that  in  reading  the  relief  from  left  to  right,  the 
Child  is  portrayed  first,  then  the  Virgin,  as  is  characteristic  of  Andrea's 
Madonnas.  This  results  in  giving  greater  emphasis  to  the  Child.  It  is 
evident  that  Andrea  intended  here  no  mere  representation  of  motherhood. 
The  Child  is  portrayed  as  a  young  divinity  conferring  a  blessing  on  the 
world.  Lest  we  fail  to  observe  this,  he  is  provided  with  a  halo.  His 
childhood  is  emphasized  by  the  swaddling  clothes.  The  mother  is  no  less 
the  divine  mother  and  wears  a  halo.  The  doctrinal  character  of  the  com- 
position is  still  further  elaborated  by  the  representation  overhead  of  God  the 
Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  concentrate  their  attention  on  the  Child. 
They  are  surrounded  by  a  glory  of  cherubs. 

This  relief  is  closely  related  to  a  very  beautiful  Madonna  in  Florence 
in  the  church  of  S.  Gaetano  (Fig.  12).  The  Florentine  example  is  prob- 
ably slightly  earlier  in  date,  and  is  less  elaborate  as  a  composition.  Only  the 
hands  of  God  the  Father  appear  in  the  sky,  the  Holy  Dove  is  far  more 
prominent,  and  the  glory  of  cherub  heads  is  absent.  Neither  mother  nor 
Child  wears  the  halo;  they  also  vary  in  pose  and  modelling  from  the  Bel- 
mont Madonna.  The  chair  upon  which  the  Madonna  is  seated  is  thrown 
into  perspective  so  that  we  may  see  one  of  its  sides  carved  like  the  cushion 
of  an  Ionic  capital.  In  many  similar  cases  only  the  rosette  carved  on  the 
chair  is  visible.  The  S.  Gaetano  relief  is  surrounded  by  a  frame  of  fruit 
and  leaves  not  modelled  in  relief  but  painted  on  the  flat,  and  less  schematic- 
ally composed  than  was  customary  with  Andrea.  When  designing  this 
relief,  Andrea  was  probably  still  in  the  atelier  of  his  uncle  and  strongly 
influenced  by  him. 


Figure  ii. — Madonna. 
Mrs.  O.  H.  P.  Belmont  Collection,  Newport. 


Figure  12. — Madonna.    S.  Gaetano,  Florence. 


ANDREA    DELLA  ROBBIA 


35 


Madonna  zvith  nude,  standing  Child  holding  a  Bird  (Nos.  10-12). 

In  S.  Egidio,  the  church  connected  with  the  hospital  of  Santa  Maria 
Nuova,  Florence,  there  is  a  fine  relief  by  Andrea  della  Robbia  (Fig.  13), 
from  which  are  derived  three  examples  in  America.  The  S.  Egidio  Ma- 
donna is  not  far  removed  in  style  from  that  in  S.  Gaetano ;  the  Dove,  though 
smaller,  is  still  prominent ;  even  the  end  of  the  chair  is  similarly  represented 
in  perspective.  Here,  however,  a  new  motive  appears :  the  Child  carries  a 
bird  in  his  right  hand.  He  has  cast  aside  the  swaddling  clothes  and  is 
completely  nude.  It  may  be  further  observed  that  the  clouds  are  more 
realistically  represented ;  also  that  the  Dove,  Madonna,  and  Child  all  wear 
haloes.    This  is,  therefore,  slightly  later  in  date  than  the  S.  Gaetano  relief. 

Derivatives  from  this  type  are  not  uncommon,  and  in  some  cases  are 
quite  far  in  quality  from  their  prototype.  The  Dove  is  sometimes  replaced 
by  two  or  three  cherub  heads,  the  Madonna  is  deprived  of  her  chair,  and  the 
Child  stands  not  on  his  mother's  lap  but  on  an  ill  defined  support,  which  may 
represent  a  balustrade. 

10.  An  excellent  example  of  a  Madonna  of  this  type  is  found  in  the 
collection  of  Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw  at  Jamaica  Plain  (Fig.  14).  The  Ma- 
donna is  not  seated,  but  stands  behind  a  table,  or  balustrade.  The  Child's 
left  arm  is  still  about  his  mother's  neck,  but  her  left  hand  has  fallen  and 
grasps  the  Child's  left  ankle.  This  relief  is  not  of  the  same  quality  as  the 
S.  Egidio  Madonna.  It  is  the  product  of  the  workshop,  not  by  the  master 
hand.  It  belongs  to  a  period  when  the  Robbia  works  were  in  great  de- 
mand, for  replicas  of  this  type  exist  in  the  Castello  di  Lari ;  at  Bardini's, 
Florence;  in  the  Louvre;  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum;  at  Donald- 
son's London,  and  there  is  an  excellent  example  at  Rickmansworth. 
Baldinucci,^  who  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  Madonna  in  the  Cas- 
tello di  Lari,  attributes  it  to  Giovanni  della  Robbia,  and  tells  us  that  it  was 
made  on  an  order  from  Alessandro  di  Pietro  Segni,  who  was  Vicario  at 
Lari  in  1524.  His  attribution  does  not  carry  much  weight,  inasmuch  as 
the  Madonna  does  not  resemble  Giovanni's  well  known  types,  but  Alessan- 
dro di  Pietro  Segni  was  Vicario  at  Lari^  from  the  25th  of  September,  1524 
until  March  25,  1525.  And  this  Madonna  bears  the  Segni  coat  of  arms. 
The  court  yard  at  Lari  contains  several  coats  of  arms  from  the  years  1523, 

^Notizie  de'  Professori  del  Disegno  (Milano,  1808-1812),  vi,  pp.  17-18. 

^  Repetti,  Dizionario  geografico,  fisico,  storico,  della  Toscana,  s.  v.  Lari,  p.  646. 


36 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


1524  and  1525,  and  the  style  of  the  garlands  makes  it  certain  that  the  Lari 
Madonna  was  executed  at  the  same  time.  At  this  period  Andrea  della  Rob- 
bia  can  no  longer  have  had  an  active  share  in  the  direction  of  the  atelier,  as 
he  was  in  his  eighty-ninth  year  in  1524  and  died  Aug.  4,  1525.  It  is  his 
influence  and  his  types,  not  his  handiwork,  that  we  see  in  these  reliefs. 

11.  From  the  Ferroni  Sale  at  Rome  in  1909,  there  was  brought  to 
this  country  another  variant  of  this  type,  which  for  a  while  was  on  exhi- 
bition in  the  galleries  of  Messrs.  C.  and  E.  Canessa,  New  York  (Fig.  15). 
The  cherub  heads  have  been  omitted;  the  Child's  left  arm  is  no  longer 
around  his  mother's  neck,  and  his  right  arm  is  slightly  raised ;  the  Madonna's 
left  hand  has  shifted  from  the  Child's  left  ankle  to  his  foot.  We  may 
still  recognize  in  this  relief  a  strong  influence  from  Andrea,  but  little  or 
nothing  of  his  personal  handiwork.   Its  date  is  probably  not  far  from  1525. 

12.  The  same  firm  have  in  their  possession  a  Madonna  and  Child  with 
a  Bird,  somewhat  like  the  Ferroni  example  but  lacking  a  background  (Fig. 
16).  This  is  not  so  close  to  Andrea's  type,  but  shows  somewhat  the  in- 
fluence of  Giovanni. 

75.    Madonna  zvith  nude,  standing  Child  blessing  (Fig.  I'j). 

This  relief,  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  W.  C.  Endicott,  Jr.,  Boston, 
was  formerly  owned  by  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Ward,  New  York,  who  inherited 
it  from  his  father  Mr.  Samuel  G.  Ward  of  Washington. 

The  motive  of  the  Madonna  with  the  Child  blessing  occurs  in  some  of 
Luca's  works,  with  the  Child,  draped  or  nude,  seated  on  his  mother's  lap. 
With  Andrea  della  Robbia  almost  without  exception,  the  Child  is  nude  and 
standing  to  the  left. 

In  the  Campo  Santo  at  Arezzo  there  is  an  altarpiece  by  Andrea,  where 
the  Madonna,  an  entire  figure,  is  seated  on  a  bench  or  throne,  holding  on 
her  lap  the  nude,  standing  Child  in  the  act  of  blessing.  Again  at  Arezzo,  in 
the  Cathedral,  in  the  predella  of  Andrea's  splendid  altarpiece  of  the  Trinity, 
the  same  motive  occurs,  the  Madonna  being,  however,  in  half  figure  and 
seated  on  a  chair.^  This  latter  composition  was  destined  to  become  a 
favorite  one  and  was  repeated  many  times.  There  is  another  rectangular 
relief,  very  similar  to  this,  in  the  collection  of  Prince  Liechtenstein,  Vienna; 
a  round-headed  replica  is  figured  in  Bardini's  sale  catalogue  of  1902  (No. 

'Marcel  Reymond,  Lcs  Delia  Robbia,  p.  177;  Schubring,  Liica  della  Robbia,  Abb.  114. 


Figure  14. — Madonna. 
Shaw  Collection,  Jamaica  Plain. 


Figure  i6. 


, — Madonna.    Canessa  Galleries,  New  York. 


ANDREA    BELLA  ROBBIA 


45 


512)  ;  while  the  tondo  with  a  polychromatic  fruit  frame  in  the  Berlin 
Museum  (No.  124)  shows  slight  variations  in  treatment  and  a  tendency  to 
transform  the  seated  into  a  standing  Madonna.  1 

14-15.    Madonna  zvith  nude,  standing  Child  holding  Drapery  (Fig.  18). 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  J.  S.  Bache,  New  York  (Fig.  18),  and  of  Mr. 
Henry  Walters,  Baltimore,  may  be  found  medallions  representing  the  Ma- 
donna with  the  nude,  standing  Child  holding  a  bit  of  her  mantle  in  his 
right  hand  and  grasping  her  thumb  in  his  left.  On  either  side  is  a  cherub 
head. 

This  is  a  composition  of  which  there  are  several  excellent  examples. 
Perhaps  the  most  charming  and  the  most  characteristic  of  Andrea  is  the 
tondo  surrounded  by  a  frieze  of  cherub  heads  and  an  outer  garland  of  roses 
in  the  collection  of  M.  Foulc  in  Paris.*  Although  there  is  no  indica- 
tion of  a  chair,  we  feel  that  the  Madonna  is  seated  and  that  the  Child 
stands  upon  her  lap.  At  Santa  Maria  della  Scala  at  Messina  there  was  a 
repetition  of  this  composition  of  slightly  inferior  quality,  and  in  the  Ru- 
dolfinum  at  Prague  a  fine  example  in  which  the  Madonna's  mantle  is  en- 
riched with  borders  in  relief.  In  both  cases  the  frames  have  the  cherub 
frieze  and  outer  garland.  There  is  an  excellent  example,  framed  in  wood 
in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  (No.  5633  '59),  and  others  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Marchese  Canigiani,  Florence,  and  M.  Gustave  Dreyfus,  Paris.  In 
the  Museo  Nazionale  (No.  30),  Florence,  there  is  an  example  in  which  the 
Madonna  is  more  heavily  veiled.  The  type  appears  to  have  been  copied,  by 
some  sculptor  outside  of  the  Robbia  School,  in  a  very  decorative  tondo  in 
the  collection  of  the  Marchese  Mazzarosa,  at  Lucca. ^  Here  the  bit  of  mantle 
held  by  the  child  has  evidently  been  mistaken  for  a  bird,  which,  though  fre- 
quently represented  in  Robbia  reliefs,  was  nevertheless  indicated  in  a  differ- 
ent manner.  In  the  Museum  at  Sevres  the  same  composition,  without  the 
cherub  heads,  is  seen  against  a  splashed  background — evidently  a  modern 
reproduction. 

In  many  of  these  replicas  it  may  be  observed  that  the  original  compo- 
sition— that  of  a  seated  Madonna — is  forgotten.  The  ]\Iadonna  may  be 
thought  of  either  as  seated  or  as  standing.    In  the  latter  case  the  ground 

*  Bode,  Denkmdler  der  Renaissance  Sctilptur  Toscaua's.  Taf.  26g. 
"Alinari  photograph,  No.  8513. 


46 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


upon  which  the  Child  stands  is  left  quite  ambiguous.  This  ambiguity  oc- 
curs sometimes  in  painting,  as  for  example  in  the  very  beautiful  Madonna 
by  Baldovinetti  in  the  Louvre,  where  the  Child  reclines  upon  a  balcony  rail, 
and  the  Madonna's  chair,  for  all  we  can  see,  rests  upon  empty  space.  In 
Andrea's  Madonnas  the  beauty  of  the  composition  sometimes  makes  it 
superfluous  to  inquire  whether  all  the  accessories  of  time  and  space  are 
accurately  iixlic:ited. 

i6.    Madonna  with  nude,  standing  Child  embracing  her  (Figs,  ip-20). 

To  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  the  late  Mr.  Charles  C.  Perkins 
presented  a  M;i:ioiiiia  holding  a  nude,  standing  Child,  who  has  his  left  arm 
thrown  about  lier  neck  (Fig.  19).  It  is  not  of  the  finest  workmanship,  but 
reflects  a  type  established  by  Andrea  della  Robbia,  and  may  be  assigned  to 
his  atelier,  ll  may  l)e  noticed  that  it  had  no  background,  the  ground 
against  which  it  now  stands  being  of  wood  painted  blue.  Reliefs  without 
backgrounds  were  not  infrequently  made  by  the  Robbias.  One  resembling 
closely  the  Boston  Madonna,  also  without  a  background,  is  set  up  in  a  street 
corner  tabernacle  in  the  Via  della  Scala,  Florence."  The  Florentine  ex- 
ample is  set  iipoii  a  low  pedestal  bearing  the  arms  of  some  branch  of  the 
Medici  famil}^  There  is  a  finer  reproduction  of  the  same  composition  by 
another  hand  in  the  Piazza  dell'  Unita  Italiana  (Fig.  20).  This  was  origi- 
nally a  tondo,  but  is  now  set  in  a  niche.  The  adaptation  of  this  composition 
to  the  tondo  was  only  partially  successful,  as  it  leaves  the  standing  ground 
of  the  Child  quite  undefined.  In  the  Boston  example,  and  in  that  in  the 
Via  della  Scala,  the  Child  stands  upon  a  ledge  or  pedestal  which  supplies 
a  sufficient  support.  This  type  of  Madonna  we  need  not  hesitate  to  assign 
to  Andrea  della  Rolibia,  for  he  received  pay  for  a  very  similar  Madonna,  set 
between  two  angels,  still  existing  in  the  Museo  dell'  Opera  del  Duomo  at 
FloretHH-.'  The  date  of  payment  was  Sept.  12,  1489,  which  gives  us  an 
appioxhrate  date  for  the  Boston  relief.  It  happens,  however,  that  at  this 
date  Andrea  w;is  engaged  upon  the  very  beautiful  lunette  which  stands 
o\'er  ilie  entrance  to  the  Cathedral  at  Prato.  The  fine  quality  of  that  relief 
is  proof  that  these  secondary  works  were  executed  by  his  assistants  or 
follower';,  but  under  his  direction  and  control. 

"  Brogi,  photograph  No.  4729. 

'Cruttwell,  Luca  (iiid  Andrea  della  Robbia,  p.  179;  M.  Reymond,  Les  Della  Robbia, 
P-  143. 


Figure  i8.— Madonna.   J.  S.  Bache  Collection,  New  York. 


Figure  19. — Madonna.    Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 


Figure  20. — Madonna.    Piazza  dell'  Unita  Italiana,  Florence. 


ANDREA    DELLA  ROBBIA 


53 


17.  The  Madonna  seated  on  clouds  with  nude,  seated  Child  (Figs.  21-22). 

In  the  Art  Museum  of  Princeton  University,  there  is  a  rectangular  re- 
hef  presented  by  the  late  William  C.  Prime  (Fig.  21).  It  represents  a 
seated  Madonna  carrying  a  nude  Child.  It  may  be  observed  that  she  is 
seated  upon  blue  clouds.  The  Madonna's  face  and  the  aifectionate  attitude 
of  the  Child  are  reminiscent  of  Luca;  the  composition  is  also  possibly  de- 
rived from  Luca,  but  the  spirit  of  both  Mother  and  Child  comes  from 
Andrea. 

In  the  Museo  Nazionale,  Florence,  there  is  a  replica  of  the  Princeton 
Madonna,  which  was  formerly  in  the  gallery  of  the  Hospital  of  S.  Maria 
Nuova.  A  slightly  elaborated  example  may  be  seen  in  the  Petit  Palais, 
Paris,  in  the  Dutuit  collection.  The  Madonna  is  still  seated  on  clouds, 
but  at  either  side  of  her  are  adoring  cherubs,  above  is  the  Heavenly  Dove, 
and  her  head  is  covered  by  a  veil.  The  same  subject  is  treated,  with  greater 
sweetness  and  charm,  by  Andrea  himself,  in  a  round-headed  relief  in  the 
collection  of  Prince  Liechtenstein,  Vienna  (Fig.  22).  Here,  however,  the 
clouds  have  disappeared  from  beneath  the  Madonna  and  she  seems  to  be 
seated  on  the  ground.  There  is  another  charming  replica  at  S.  Stefano  a 
Campoli  near  San  Casciano.  In  this  case  the  Madonna  is  distinctly  thought 
of  as  seated  on  the  ground,  for  the  space  to  the  left  is  occupied  by  a 
branching  plant  of  annunciation  lilies.  In  later  reliefs  the  same  composition 
occurs  with  a  more  developed  landscape  background,  as  for  example  in  two' 
tondi,  one  formerly  in  the  Bardini  Collection,  and  the  other  in  a  private 
collection  near  Florence,  in  which  cherubs  and  Dove  have  disappeared,  and 
a  distant  tree  occupies  one  side  of- the  field,  while  S.  Giovannino  approaches 
on  the  other.  In  one  of  these  cases  the  influence  of  both  Luca  and  Andrea 
is  still  evident,  in  the  other  we  recognize  types  introduced  by  Giovanni  della 
Robbia. 

18.  Seated  Madonna  with  nude  Child  seated  on  a  Cushion  (Figs.  2^-2/j.). 

A  large  medallion  with  a  seated  Madonna  belonging  to  the  Cerchi 
family  in  Pescia^  passed  into  the  hands  of  Prince  Demidoff,  and  was  sold 
in  the  Palazzo  di  San  Donato  Sale,®  March  15,  1880.    It  is  now  in  the 

'  Cavallucci  and  Molinier,  Les  Delia  Robbia,  p.  75. 
'  Catalogue  No.  375. 


54 


BELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


possession  of  Mrs.  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  New  York  (Fig.  23).  The  type 
is  not  unfamiliar  to  us  and  we  may  trace  it  in  its  various  phases.  One  of 
the  best,  and  most  characteristic  of  Andrea  examples,  is  the  round-headed 
relief  in  the  Museo  Nazionale  (No.  76),  Florence  (Fig.  24).  Here  the 
Madonna  is  firmly  seated  in  the  folding  chair,  holding  the  Child  with  her 
right  hand,  and  with  her  left  playing  with  his  left  foot.  The  Child,  seated 
on  a  cushion,  plays  with  her  right  thumb,  and  firmly  catches  her  veil.  In  the 
clouds  overhead  are  three  cherub  heads.  The  same  composition  recurs  in 
another  round-headed  relief  in  the  Cathedral  at  Arezzo.^"  The  modelling 
and  various  details  have  been  varied,  but  the  composition  and  the  spirit  are 
the  same  as  in  the  Florentine  example.  Again  the  same  theme  is  beautifully 
treated  in  a  relief  in  the  Museo  Nazionale  at  Palermo, where  the  folding 
chair  has  disappeared,  or  is  dimly  suggested  beneath  the  mantle  of  the  Ma- 
donna. The  cherubs  are  increased  to  five  and  the  Holy  Dove  is  intro- 
duced. The  clouds,  though  not  in  relief,  are  very  strongly  marked  by  wav- 
ing strokes  of  black  and  white.  At  Hamburg,  in  the  Museum  fiir  Kunst 
und  Gewerbe,^"  this  type  of  Madonna  occurs  in  the  form  of  a  rectangular 
relief.  There  is  less  space  for  incidentals  and  accordingly  the  Dove,  cherubs, 
and  even  the  clouds,  are  omitted.  The  medallion  in  the  Vanderbilt  col- 
lection shows  the  same  tendency  to  simplification.  This  was  not  due  to  any 
necessity  arising  from  the  contracted  form  of  the  medallion,  for  at  Citta 
di  Castello  there  is  a  medallion  containing  a  Madonna  of  a  closely  related 
type  surrounded  by  six  cherubs  and  the  Dove.^^  It  was  rather  the  general 
tendency  in  Italian  sculpture  at  the  end  of  the  XV  century  to  make  larger 
figures  and  simpler  compositions.  The  Vanderbilt  Madonna  is  so  large  that 
only  half  of  her  halo  may  be  represented  within  the  frame.  The  type  of 
the  Madonna  is  not  precisely  that  of  the  Madonna  of  the  Cushion  at  Flor- 
ence or  Palermo,  but  is  nevertheless  a  type  found  in  many  of  Andrea's 
later  works,  as  for  example  in  the  Madonnas  at  Stia,  at  Camaldoli,  and  at 
Viterbo.  It  was  this  type  which  inspired  Giovanni  della  Robbia,  when  in 
1497  he  made  the  Madonna  in  the  lunette  of  the  Lavabo  in  Santa  Maria 
Novella. 

The  frame,  with  its  bunches  of  fruit  in  groups  of  three,  is  constructed 

"  Alinari  photograph,  No.  9704. 
"  Alinari  photograph,  No.  19588. 

"Bode,  Denkmdler,  Taf.  256,  i;  Schubring,  Luca  della  Robbia,  Abb.  119. 
"  Alinari,  photograph.  No.  4867. 


Figure  21. — Madonna.    Art  Museum,  Princeton  University. 


Figure  22.— Madonna.    Prince  Liechtenstein,  V 


I 


Fjgure  2.3. 


. — Maponna. 


Mrs.  Vandekbii.t,  New  York. 


I 


Figure  24.— Madonna.    Museo  Nazionalk,  Florence. 


( 


ANDREA    DELLA  ROBBIA 


63 


according  to  Andrea's  canons.  It,  however,  is  not  modelled  with  Andrea's 
refined  sense  of  form.  We  feel  that  some  other  hand  than  his  executed  the 
frame,  and  had  also  a  share  in  the  central  relief,  for  the  arm  of  the  folding- 
chair is  not  in  proper  perspective,  and  the  further  tassels  of  the  cushion 
are  similarly  unsuccessful.  Andrea  dell  Rohhia  was  undoubtedly  respon- 
sible for  the  general  conception,  the  composition,  the  specific  types,  and 
even  the  mannerism  of  this  medallion,  but  the  execution  was  in  a  measure 
left  to  his  assistants. 

ip.    Seated  Madonna  with  nude  Child  standing  on  a  Cushion  (Figs.  2^-26). 

The  Madonna  with  a  nude,  standing-  Child,  with  his  left  arm  about  her 
neck  and  his  right  hand  resting  on  her  breast,  occurs  frecjuently  in  the 
works  of  Andrea  della  Robbia,  notably  in  an  altarpiece  in  the  Berlin 
Museum, and  in  the  lunette  over  the  portal  of  the  Cathedral  at  Pistoia, 
for  which  Andrea  received  payment  on  the  26th  of  August  1505.^°  In  the 
former  case  the  Madonna  is  represented  in  full  figure  seated  upon  the 
clouds;  in  the  latter  she  is  represented  in  three  quarter  figure  and  standing. 
For  smaller  monuments  the  half  figure  was  more  popular  and  the  Madonna 
was  seated  upon  the  folding  chair.  A  good  example  of  such  a  Madonna 
is  found  in  a  small  chapel  at  Baragazza  (Fig.  25).  Here  the  type  of  the 
Madonna  and  of  the  Child,  the  cherubs  and  Dove,  all  indicate  authorship 
by  Andrea  della  Robbia.  The  end  of  the  chair  is  fully  exhibited,  the  knees 
of  the  Madonna  are  in  evidence,  and  the  Child  rests  his  left  foot  gently  on 
his  mother's  hand,  while  his  right  foot  is  caught  between  her  caressing 
fingers. 

This  motive,  so  charming  in  its  details,  was  repeated  with  variations  by 
several  members  of  Andrea's  atelier.  In  the  Pinacoteca  at  Citta  di  Castello 
there  is  a  tondo,  possibly  an  early  work  of  Giovanni  della  Robbia,  in  which 
the  same  motive  recurs;  but  there  is  no  indication  of  the  chair,  nor  of  the 
girdle,  nor  of  the  cushion,  and  to  better  fill  the  space  there  are  six  cherubs 
instead  of  four.^^ 

The  collection  of  Mr.  Robert  S.  Minturn,  New  York,  contains  a  small 
predella  tondo  in  which  Andrea's  composition  has  been  still  further  modi- 

"  Bode,  Denlnn'dler,  Taf.  271;  Schubring,  Luca  delta  Robbia,  Abb.  103. 
"  M.  Reymond,  Les  Delia  Robbia,  p.  201. 

"Carocci,  Arte  Italiatia  Decorativa  e  Indtislrialc.  v  (1896),  p.  30. 


64 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


fied  by  one  of  his  followers  (Fig.  26).  The  Madonna's  halo,  by  its  oval 
form,  suggests  the  tilted  halo — a  very  unusual  form  in  works  of  the  Delia 
Robbia  school.  In  adapting  the  composition  to  the  circular  form  the  sculp- 
tor has  omitted  the  Madonna's  knees,  and  posed  the  Child  upon  a  cushion. 
The  Madonna's  left  hand  shows  a  reminiscence  of  Andrea's  original  mo- 
tive by  its  two  extended  fingers,  but  here  they  are  stretched  in  a  purpose- 
less manner.  Her  right  hand  does  not  satisfactorily  support  the  Child.  It 
may  be  noted  that  the  Madonna's  arm  is  not  covered,  as  is  the  case  with 
Andrea's  Madonnas,  but  is  bare  half  way  to  the  elbow.  There  is  also  a 
vague  treatment  of  the  hair,  and  the  veil  is  tied  as  if  the  sculptor  could  not 
well  express  a  knot.  The  background,  though  injured  and  repaired  in 
part,  is  a  beautiful  blue,  and  the  relief,  as  a  whole,  has  picturesque  charm. 

Two  medallions  in  the  Museo  Nazionale  (No.  2  and  No.  5),  Florence, 
and  one  at  Arsoli  repeat  this  composition  with  slight  variations,  and  are 
evidently  by  the  same  hand.  It  is  almost  an  exact  replica  of  a  predella 
tondo  in  a  large  altarpiece  in  the  Stadel  Institut  at  Frankfurt  a/M.^'^ 

Madonna  adoring  the  Child  (Nos.  30-2 f,). 

No  subject  was  treated  more  sympathetically  l)y  Andrea  della  Robbia 
than  the  Adoration  of  the  Child.  As  a  composition  it  may  be  considered  an 
abbreviated  Nativity,  in  which  Joseph,  the  stable  with  the  ox,  ass,  and 
the  shepherds  are  omitted,  and  only  Mary  remains  on  her  knees  before  the 
Child.  The  Madonna  adoring  the  Child  was  nowhere  so  fully  and  beauti- 
fully expressed  by  Andrea  as  in  the  altarpiece  set  up  at  La  Verna  about  the 
year  1479  (Fig.  27).  Here  the  lovely  mother  kneels  before  the  divine 
Child,  who  is  resting  comfortably  on  a  bed  of  hay.  Above  her  is  God  the 
Father,  in  a  halo  of  cherubs,  holding  up  both  hands  in  admiration.  The 
Holy  Dove  is  also  gazing  upon  the  Child,  and  the  heavenly  hosts  are  rep- 
resented by  eight  angels  in  adoring  attitude,  two  of  them  bearing  a  scroll 
inscribed  Gloria  in  Excclsis  Deo. 

If  we  think  of  all  these  figures  as  in  the  same  plane,  the  composition 
appears  over  crowded  and  top  heavy;  but  if  we  conceive  of  all  the  heavenly 
beings  as  in  the  sky  and  thus  separated  from  the  Madonna  and  Child,  the 
composition  becomes  one  of  great  beauty.  No  wonder  that  it  was  selected 
for  frequent  repetition. 

"  Benkard,  ZcUschrift  fi'ir  bildcnde  Kuiist,  xxi  (1910),  p.  no. 


FlGURK  26.— M-\DONNA.     R.  S.  MiXTUKN  COLLECTION,  New  VoRK. 


ANDREA    BELLA  ROBBIA 


67 


20.  In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Henry  Walters,  Baltimore,  there  is  an  im- 
portant altarpiece  representing  the  Madonna  adoring  the  Child  (Fig.  28). 
It  bears  the  combined  arms  of  the  Buondelmonti  and  Pazzi  families.  Inter- 
marriages between  these  two  families  occurred  twice  about  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  once  earlier,  in  1483.  The  latter  date  alone 
interests  us.  It  was  then  that  Alessandra,  daughter  of  Guglielmo  Pazzi 
and  of  Bianca  di  Petro  Medici,  who  was  a  sister  of  Lorenzo  II  Magnifico, 
became  the  wife  of  Bartolomeo  di  Rosso  Buondelmonti.^*  This  couple 
left  no  descendants,  so  an  altarpiece  of  a  Madonna  adoring  her  Child  may 
have  had  to  them  a  pathetic  meaning.  The  altarpiece  is  said  to  have  found 
lodgment  in  the  eighteenth  century  in  the  Riccardi  palace,  and  in  recent 
years  to  have  been  the  property  of  the  Marchese  Massimiliano  Strozzi, 
Florence.  The  date  of  the  marriage  suggests  that  the  altarpiece  was 
ordered  after  the  year  1483.    This  is  confirmed  by  its  style. 

The  outer  frame  consists  of  hanging  garlands  of  fruit.  The  fruit  con- 
sists of  pine  cones,  apples,  cucumbers,  oranges,  pears,  chestnuts,  poppies, 
and  grapes,  selected  more  or  less  at  random  and  painted  with  distinguishing 
colours.  The  fruit  is  arranged  in  Andrea's  stereotyped  groups  of  three, 
separated  by  simple  cross  bands.  This  method  of  arranging  fruit  is  dis- 
tinctly conventional,  unlike  Luca's  asymmetrical  grouping.  The  bunches 
are  not  detached  from  each  other,  as  in  some  of  Andrea's  earlier  altar- 
pieces,  but  are  more  continuous,  as  in  his  marble  altarpiece  at  Santa  Maria 
delle  Grazie  at  Arezzo.  The  inner  frieze  of  cherub  heads  is  most  charac- 
teristic of  Andrea's  style.  It  appears  in  his  lunettes  at  Prato  (1489)  and 
Pistoia  (1505)  as  well  as  in  many  other  works. 

The  central  relief  is  a  combination  of  three  motives,  the  Gloria  in  Ex- 
celsis,  the  Coronation,  and  the  Adoration.  The  Gloria  in  Excelsis,  here 
represented  by  a  simple  angel  bearing  the  scroll,  was  suitably  introduced 
into  scenes  of  the  Nativity.-**  When  this  subject  was  reduced  to  the  Ma- 
donna adoring  the  Child,  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis  was  usually  omitted.  Ador- 
ing angels  were  sometimes  retained,  as  in  a  medallion  in  the  Cluny  Museum, 
but  the  La  Verna  and  Walters  Adorations  are  perhaps  the  only  examples 
among  Andrea's  many  repetitions  of  the  subject  where  the  Gloria  in 
Excelsis  is  explicitly  introduced..  The  omission  of  this  accessory  was  due 
"  Litta,  Famiglie  celebi'i,  viii,  s.  v.  Pazzi,  Tav.  g. 

"  See  Marcel  Reymond,  Lcs  Delia  Kohbia,  pp.  167,  168,  175,  177-179,  186,  193,  198,  201. 
^  S.  Luke,  ii,  13-14. 


68 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


to  the  reduced  size  of  the  rehefs  together  with  a  desire  to  retain  as  more 
important  the  figures  of  God  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  in- 
scription on  the  scroll,  which  appears  in  the  La  Verna  altarpiece  as 
GLORIA  IN  EXCELSIS  DEO  is  here  written  Gloria  in  cccclsis  dco  ct  in 
terra  pas  oin(nibiis) ,  the  spelling  of  which  was  apparently  left  to  some 
illiterate  assistant. 

The  Coronation  as  an  event  was  beautifully  depicted  by  Andrea  della 
Robbia  in  the  Osservanza  at  Siena.  In  the  Walters  altarpiece  two  angels 
hold  a  crown  abo\-e  the  Madonna's  head  as  a  symbol  of  her  future  coro- 
nation. This  symbol  occurs  in  many  of  Andrea's  altarpieces,  especially  in 
his  later  works,  and  in  those  of  his  followers.-^  Below  the  crown,  hang- 
ing from  the  wrists  of  the  angels,  is  an  embroidered  band,  possibly  the 
cintola  or  girdle  intrcxluced  to  suggest  the  Assumption  of  the  Madonna.-- 

The  Madonna  adoring  the  Child  was  frequently  represented  by  Andrea 
della  Robbia  and  has  been  reproduced  in  many  modern  copies.  The  altar- 
piece  recently  acquired  by  Mr.  Henry  Walters  is  of  unusual  importance  be- 
cause of  its  close  resemblance  to  one  of  Andrea's  masterpieces — the  Ador- 
ation of  tlie  Child  at  La  Verna. 

21.  In  adjusting  this  theme  to  small  round-headed  reliefs,  the  acces- 
sory figures  were  necessarily  omitted  or  reduced  in  number.  Thus  at 
Palermo,  in  the  church  of  S.  Niccolo  in  Gurgo,  and  in  the  Victoria  and 
Albert  Museum  (No.  7596),  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis  is  omitted,  but  God  the 
Father  crowned,  surrounded  by  six  cherubs,  and  the  Holy  Dove  are  re- 
tained.   The  Child  here  also  rests  on  green  hay. 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Martin  A.  Ryerson,  Chicago  (Fig.  29),  there 
is  a  round-headed  relief  of  slightly  different  character.  The  Divine  Father 
wears  no  crown,  but  he  is  still  surrounded  hy  six  cherubs,  the  Dove  also  is 
retained,  but  the  Child  rests  not  on  hay,  but  on  clouds.  Possibly  'this  type 
goes  back  to  an  original  still  earlier  than  the  La  Verna  altarpiece.  There 
are  many  replicas  of  it  familiar  to  those  who  have  visited  the  Museo 
Nazionale,  Florence,  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  London,  and  the 
Museo  Industriale,  Rome.  Others  are  found  in  various  private  collections 
in  Europe. 

"See  Marcel  Reymond,  op.  cii.,  pp.  171,  iQg,  201,  211,  213,  233,  234,  242,  255,  257. 

'^Andrea's  angels  often  carry  scrolls  or  kerchiefs  without  symbolic  significance.  In 
the  altarpiece  of  the  Medici  Chapel  of  Santa  Croce,  Florence,  they  hold  a  long  ribbon, 
and  at  Gallicano  a  long  scarf,  suggesting  possibly  the  cintola  (Reymond,  op,  cit.,  pp.  171, 
234). 


i-'iGLki;  jj. —Adoration.    La  Verna. 


Figure  28. — Adokatiun.    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore. 


M. 


Figure  29. — Adoration. 
A.  Ryerson  Collection,  Chicago. 


FiGUKK  30. — Adoration. 
S.  Untermyer  Collection,  Yonkers, 


ANDREA    BELLA  ROBBIA 


77 


22.  In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Samuel  Unterniyer  at  Yonkers  (Fig.  30) 
may  be  seen  an  Adoration  similar  to  that  owned  by  Mr.  Ryerson. 

27,.  A  very  beautiful  example  of  the  Adoration  of  the  Child  was 
formerly  set  in  a  wayside  shrine  at  S.  Maria  della  Palma,  near  Florence. 
It  represented  the  unusual  arrangement  of  the  Madonna  to  the  left  with  the 
Child  on  clouds  to  the  right.  God  the  Father,  wearing  a  simple  triangular 
coronal,  similar  to  those  used  by  Luca  della  Robbia,  and  surrounded  by 
six  cherubs,  makes  the  composition  top  heavy.  Possibly  this  was  a  youthful 
work  by  Andrea,  based  in  part  on  the  methods  of  his  uncle.  In  the  Ash- 
molean  Museum,  Oxford,  there  is  another  round-headed  relief  in  which  the 
Madonna  and  Child  are  similarly  posed,  and  where  are  figured  also  God 
the  Father,  the  Holy  Dove,  four  cherubs,  and  two  angels.  The  disadvant- 
age of  crowding  so  many  figures  at  the  top  was  recognized  in  the  course  of 
time,  and  one  by  one  the  heavenly  accessories  disappear. 

A  round-headed  relief  of  this  type  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Stanley 
Mortimer  at  Roslyn  may  be  assigned  to  Andrea's  atelier.  The  base  is  care- 
lessly inscribed  AVE  MARIA  GRAZIA  PLENA.  The  composition  of  the 
accessories  is  also  somewhat  crude.  Above  the  Madonna's  head  is  the 
Dove,  and  on  either  side  inordinately  large  cherub  heads.  Andrea  himself 
would  have  given  us  a  more  evenly  balanced  composition.  Around  the 
relief  is  a  frieze  of  cherub  heads,  and  beyond  this  a  closely  composed 
garland  of  fruit  and  flowers,  both  inspired  by  Andrea's  models.  The 
console  contains  the  arms  of  the  Del  Pugliese  family.  Francesco  del 
Pugliese  was  one  of  the  Priori  of  Florence  in  1490  and  again  in  1499.  It 
is  possible  that  he  may  have  given  the  commission  for  this  charming  shrine. 

24.  In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Mortimer  L.  Schiff,  New  York,  there  is 
a  small  medallion,  somewhat  concave,  with  a  suspiciously  vitreous  glaze. 
The  Child,  to  the  left,  rests  on  thick  green  hay,  his  left  arm  on  his 
breast  and  his  right  along  his  side.  Between  him  and  his  adoring  mother 
are  the  heads  of  the  ass  and  the  ox,  borrowed  from  more  complete 
representations  of  the  Nativity.  The  Madonna's  head  is  covered  by  a  veil 
which  falls  over  her  shoulders.  In  type  she  resembles  the  Madonnas  made 
by  Andrea  late  in  life  or  by  Giovanni  della  Robbia  in  his  early  works.  In 
the  heavens  are  two  relatively  large  cherub  heads. 

2^.  In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Edward  J.  Berwind,  Newport,  there  is  a 
rectangular  relief  which  may  be  roughly  classed  as  of  the  school  of 


^8  DELLAROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 

Andrea  (Fig.  31).  It  was  purchased  at  the  Ferroni  sale — Rome,  1909. 
Here  the  Madonna,  with  unusually  large  halo,  kneels  in  adoration  of  the 
Child,  who  is  made  comfortahle  by  a  pillow  for  his  head,  while  he  plays 
with  the  end  of  his  mother's  mantle.  There  is  no  suggestion  of  landscape, 
except  that  S.  Giovannino  with  folded  hands  and  bearing  a  cross  rushes 
from  the  background  toward  the  Child.  The  vacant  spaces  above  are  filled 
with  two  half  figures  of  adoring  angels.  This  composition  was  repeated 
almost  without  variation  in  a  painted  stucco  relief  in  the  collection  of  M. 
fimile  Gavet,  Paris,  and  may  have  been  derived  from  a  lost  work  by 
Andrea  della  Robbia.  A  fragmentary  composition  in  the  Cathedral  at 
Arezzo  has  a  somewhat  similar,  but  not  precisely  the  same,  character. 

26.  Altar  piece  representing  the  Assiiiiipfioii  of  the  Virgin,  zvith  Saints 
(Fig.  32). 

This  altarpiece,  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York,  came  from  the 
mortuary  chapel  of  the  Prince  of  Piombino.  At  one  time  it  suffered  con- 
siderable damage  and  was  crudely  restored.  The  head  of  the  Virgin  is 
modem.  Of  the  four  standing  saints  only  one,  the  Bishop  S.  Donato,  is 
intact ;  the  three  to  the  right  have  modern  heads.  At  least  one  of  the 
cherub  heads  has  been  renewed.  These  restorations  detract  considerably 
from  the  beauty  of  the  altarpiece.  Had  the  restorer  reproduced  the  heads 
of  the  Virgin,  of  S.  Francesco,  of  S.  Bernardino  and  of  the  praying  Saint 
(Bonaventura  ?)  from  other  well  known  types  by  Andrea  della  Robbia,  the 
impression  produced  by  this  altarpiece  would  have  been  vastly  improved.-^ 
However  these  very  restorations  helped  me  to  observe  some  of  Andrea's 
distinguishing  characteristics.  The  modern  heads  have  a  very  white, 
vitreous  glaze,  which  reflects  light  to  a  degree  which  interferes  with  our 
appreciation  of  form.  Andrea's  use  of  glaze  varied  considerably.  It  was 
sometimes  moderately  thick  and  again  very  thin,  sometimes  clean  and  pure 
and  a't  times  gritty  and  full  of  sand.  But  it  seldom  exhibited  anything  like 
the  sheen  of  these  modern  heads.  Again  the  eyes  of  the  modern  heads  have 
dark  blue  linear  eyebrows  and  dark  blue  massive  pupils  with  no  indication 
of  irises,  whereas  the  eyes  of  the  Bishop  S.  Donato  are  here  represented 
in  a  way  which  is  repeated  again  and  again  in  Andrea's  work.  The  eye- 
brows and  eyelids  are  indicated  by  many  short  strokes  and  dots  of  blue, 
the  pupils  are  almost  black,  and  the  irises  are  the  colour  of  copper. 
^  See  American  Journal  of  Archaeology,  vii  (1891),  422-431,  Pis.  22-23. 


Figure  31— Adoration.    E.  J.  Berwind  Collection,  New  York. 


Figure  32. — Assumption  and  Saints.   Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York. 


iGURE  33. — Madonna  della  cintola.  Foiano. 


ANDREA    DELLA  ROBBIA 


85 


In  Luca's  Madonnas  the  eyes  are  usually  represented  with  gray  blue 
irises.  Andrea's  figures  of  both  men  and  women  have  almost  uniformly 
copper-coloured  or  yellow  irises.  The  inference  from  this  is  clear.  Luca's 
ideal  lady  had  light  blue  eyes,  Andrea's  had  hazel  eyes.  This  distinction  is 
almost  as  valuable  as  would  be  the  signing  of  their  names  to  their  works. 
There  are,  however,  many  other  indications  of  Andrea's  authorship  dis- 
played in  this  altarpiece. 

One  of  the  most  striking  is  the  frieze  of  cherub  heads,  the  types  of 
which  recall  the  bambini  of  the  Innocenti  Hospital  attributed  by  Vasari  to 
Andrea  della  Robbia.  The  Madonna  in  a  mandorla,  or  almond  shaped 
glory,  with  cherub  heads,  occurs  in  many  of  Andrea's  altarpieces.  One  of 
these,  from  Foiano,  we  publish  here  (Fig.  33)  because  of  the  striking  simi- 
larity of  the  cherubs  and  of  the  angels  and  of  the  lily-laden  sarcophagus 
wi'th  porphyry  panelling.  Even  closer  in  type,  so  far  as  the  Madonna  is 
concerned,  is  Andrea's  relief  of  the  Virgin  in  a  mandorla,  in  the  Cathedral 
at  Arezzo.  In  several  of  Andrea's  Assumptions  angels  uphold  the  man- 
dorla, as  in  the  altarpiece  at  Foiano.  Elsewhere,  as  in  the  Coronations  of 
the  Virgin  in  the  Osservanza  at  Siena,  and  in  the  splendid  altarpiece  at 
Aquila,  musical  angels,  as  here,  celebrate  the  presence  of  the  Virgin  in  the 
heavens.  S.  Francesco  was  represented  by  Andrea  della  Robbia  at  La  Verna 
in  precisely  the  same  attitude  as  here ;  but  with  a  head  of  far  greater  pathos 
than  the  modern  restorer  has  given  him.  S.  Bernardino  also,  with  his 
modern  head  is  not  impressive,  but  if  he  had  been  restored  from  the  S. 
Bernardino  of  the  altar  of  the  Madonna  enthroned  with  attendant  Saints 
in  the  Cathedral  at  Arezzo,  he  would  have  been  represented  with  some- 
thing of  his  original  power.  The  same  is  true  of  the  remaining  Franciscan 
Saint. 

In  spite  of  all  defects  we  can  obtain  from  this  monument  some  notion 
of  Andrea's  composition  and  of  his  charm  as  a  sculptor.  Its  date  cannot  be 
very  far  removed  from  that  at  Foiano,  which  bears  an  inscription  of  the 
year  1502. 

2/.    Fragment  of  an  Angel  (Fig.  ^4). 

In  the  store  rooms  of  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  there  is  the 
head  of  an  angel,  loaned  by  Mrs.  T.  O.  Richardson.  It  is  only  a  fragment, 
and  has  been  painted  white.    If  the  paint  were  to  be  removed  the  original 


86 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


charm  of  this  angel  head  would  be  apparent,  and  we  should  probably  find 
also  some  trace  of  a  wing  now  broken  away.  In  Andrea's  representations 
of  the  Assumption  of  the  Madonna,  the  iiiandorla  in  which  she  is  seated  is 
upheld  by  four  or  six  angels.  This  fragment  may  well  have  come  from  a 
lost  Assumption  by  Andrea  himself. 

28.    Cherub  head  (Fig.  55 j. 

Cherub  heads  were  often  used  by  Andrea  della  Robbia,  in  the  glories 
which  surround  the  Divine  Father  or  the  risen  Madonna,  or  independently 
as  symbols  of  Heaven.  Frecjuently  also  they  are  mere  decoration,  used  in 
friezes,  frames,  or  consoles.  This  triple  winged  cherub,  formerly  in  the 
collection  of  M.  fimile  Gavet,  Paris,  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  E.  J. 
Berwind,  Newport.  It  forms  a  rectangular  plaque  large  enough  to  have 
been  used  in  a  small  frieze,  like  that  in  the  Collegiata  at  Montevarchi. 
There  is  a  series  of  placpies  of  similar  character  in  the  Louvre,  some  with  a 
single  cherub  head,  others  with  two  heads,  and  others  with  flying  angels. 
Possibly  this  belonged  to  the  same  series  and  originally  adorned  the  walls 
of  some  church  or  chapel.  This  head  is  well  enough  modelled  to  have 
been  produced  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  Andrea  himself. 

2g.    PredeUa  piece  representing  the  Nativity  (Fig.  jdl. 

Andrea  della  Robbia  represented  the  Nativity,  in  his  large  altarpieces, 
in  two  ways:  either  as  taking  place  l)ef()re  a  cave  or  as  under  the  roof  of  a 
stable.-^  This  subject  was  also  frequently  treated  in  the  predellas  of  his 
altarpieces,  when  it  occurs  in  two  types :  either  before  a  cave  or  as  in  an 
open  landscape.-'  The  Nativities  of  the  cave  type  are  usually  of  better 
workmanship  and  are  more  likely  to  have  come  from  the  master  hand. 
The  predella  piece  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  was  not  made  by  Andrea 
himself,  but  was  probably  made  in  his  atelier  and  for  one  of  the  altarpieces 
of  his  later  period.  It  resembles  most  a  predella  Nativity  in  the  highly 
polychromatic  altarpiece  of  the  Madonna  enthroned  with  Saints,  in  the 

"  A  good  example  of  the  cave  type  may  be  seen  at  S.  Lorenzo,  Bibbiena,  and  of  the 
stable  type  at  S.  Chiara,  Borgo  S.  Sepolcro. 

Cave  nativities  may  be  seen  at  Assisi,  S.  Fiora,  and  Siena;  landscape  nativities  at 
Aquila,  Arezzo,  Foiano,  Florence  (Misericordia) ,  Montepulciano,  and  in  Berlin  (Varra- 
mista  altarpiece). 


Figure  34. — I-'kagment  of  Angel.    Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 


Figure  35. — Cherub  Head.    E.  J.  Berwind  Collection,  Newport. 


ANDREA    DELLAROBBIA  89 

Cathedral  at  Arezzo.  This  has  been  attributed  to  Giovanni  della  Robbia,-° 
but  is  in  Andrea's  style.  Giovanni  seldom  represented  the  Nativity,  and 
when  he  did  so,  as  in  the  altarpiece  in  the  Seminario  at  Fiesole/^  he 
modified  Andrea's  types. 

JO.    Head  of  a  Young  Man  (Fig.  j/j. 

The  Metropolitan  Museum  jDossesses  another  relief  which  may  be  at- 
tributed to  Andrea  della  Robbia,  a  medallion  representing  the  head  of  a 
young  man.  It  was  purchased  at  the  Henry  G.  Marquand  sale  in  1903,  and 
was  previously  in  the  collection  of  Count  G.  Stroganofif,  Rome.  Busts  of 
a  somewhat  similar  character  are  fovmd  in  the  Berlin  Aluseum  and  in  the 
collection  of  Prince  Liechtenstein,  Vienna;  another  was  in  the  Spitzer 
collection  in  Paris,  and  still  another  on  sale  at  Simonetti's  in  Rome.  Of 
these  the  Berlin  bust  is  the  best,  and  is  attributed  to  Luca  della  Robbia. 
The  Liechtenstein  Ixist  is  surrounded  by  a  garland  like  those  of  Andrea 
della  Robbia,  and  the  young  man's  eyes  have  his  copper  coloured  irises. 
In  the  Metropolitan  Museum  example  the  frame  has  only  a  single  file  of 
pine  cones,  fruit,  and  leaves;  the  youth's  eyebrows  and  lashes  are  blue  and 
the  eyes  have  yellow  irises.  Who  the  young  man  may  be  is  not  easy  to 
determine.  Miss  Cruttwell  tells  us  that  it  was  probably  intended  for  S. 
Ansano  or  some  other  Boy  Saint, Dr.  Bode  considers  it  a  portrait  bust.-^ 
We  cannot  settle  the  matter,  but  venture  to  suggest  that  it  may  be  the  young 
David,  who  was  frequently  represented  in  the  XV  century  and  possibly 
by  Luca  himself  in  the  framework  of  his  Bronze  Doors. 

The  date  of  this  medallion  cannot  be  far  from  1475,  as  a  single  file 
garland  composed  in  like  manner  of  pine  cones  alternating  with  fruit  sur- 
rounds the  stcuuiia  of  Antonio  di  Lorenzo  Buondelmonti  on  the  Palazzo 
Pretorio  at  S.  Giovanni  in  Valdarno,  indicating  that  he  held  the  office  of 
Vicario  during  the  years  1474  and  1475. 

21.    Boy  zvith  a  Dolphin  (Fig.  j8). 

This  statuette  has  the  same  recent  history  as  the  medallion  just  described. 
It  passed  from  the  collection  of  Count  Stroganoff  into  that  of  the  late 

'°M.  Reymond,  Les  Delia  Robbia,  p.  253;  Cruttwell,  Luca  and  Andrea  della  Robbia, 
p.  221. 

"  Alinari  photo.  No.  3292 ;  Brogi,  photo.  No.  9862. 
^  Luca  and  Andrea  della  Robbia,  p.  89. 
^Florentine  Sculptors  of  the  Renaissance,  p.  no. 


90 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IX  AMERICA 


Henry  G.  Marquand  and  is  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Edwin  C.  Hoyt  of  New 
York.  The  greenish  blue  dolphin,  the  white  enamel  of  the  boy,  and  the 
bright  green  of  the  palmette  make  interesting  colour  contrasts.  In  type 
the  boy  is  a  brother  of  the  charming  Boy  with  a  squirrel,  in  the  Liechtenstein 
collection,  Vienna, and  is  almost  a  replica  of  one  of  Andrea's  piitti  holding 
a  garland,  now  in  the  pinacotcca  at  Citta  di  Castello.  This  statuette  may 
well  have  been  designed  as  a  fountain  figure  made  about  the  same  time  as 
Verrocchio's  more  active,  but  less  beautiful.  Boy  with  a  Dolphin,  made  for 
Lorenzo  de'  Medici's  Villa  at  Careggi  between  the  years  1476  and  1480. 

A  light  green  copy  or  replica  of  this  statuette  appears  to  have  been  sold 
in  the  Castellani  sale  in  1884. 

Cihoria  (Nos.  32-^^). 

After  Luca  della  Robbia  had  made  his  beautiful  tabernacles  for  the 
church  at  Impruneta,  glazed  terracotta  was  frequently  employed  for  taber- 
nacles, or  ciboria,  in  Florentine  and  country  churches.  These  were  princi- 
pally for  the  preservation  of  the  Sacred  Host,  sometimes  inscribed  HIC 
EST  PANIS  VIVVS  QVI  DE  CELO  DESCENDIT;  but  ciboria  for 
Holy  Oil  were  also  made,  with  or  without  the  inscription  OLEVM  IN- 
FIRMORVM.  An  imposing  example,  made  in  the  atelier  of  Andrea 
della  Robbia  in  the  closing  years  of  the  15th  century,  may  be  seen  in  the 
church  of  the  SS.  Apostoli  in  Florence  (Fig.  39).  Here  we  may  observe 
the  emphasis  laid  by  Andrea  on  the  idea  of  the  Trinity.  The  Divine  Father, 
blessing,  appears  in  the  lunette,  the  Holy  Dove  is  below,  while  the  emblems 
of  the  Son  are  represented  on  the  predella.  The  sacred  emblems  are  sup- 
posed to  be  stored  at  the  end  of  a  vaulted  nave,  on  either  side  of  which  are 
two  adoring  angels.  Outside  of  the  framed  tabernacle  are  two  large  an- 
gels drawing  back  the  veil  of  the  temple. 

32.  In  the  collection  of  Mrs.  John  L.  Gardner,  Boston,  is  the  central 
relief  of  one  of  these  ciboria  from  Andrea's  atelier  (Fig.  40).  It  was 
formerly  in  the  collection  of  M.  fimile  Gavet,  Paris.  In  comparing  it  with 
the  ciborium  at  SS.  Apostoli  we  can  see  its  abbreviated  character.  The 
vaults  of  the  nave  show  two  rows  of  cofferings  instead  of  four,  and  the 
columns  are  omitted.  From  either  side  a  single  angel  rushes  forth  in 
adoration,  but  each  is  of  considerable  size  compared  with  the  diminutive 

^  Venturi,  Storia  dell'  arte  italiana,  vi,  fig.  405. 


Figure  36. — Nativity.    Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York. 


Figure  37. — Head  of  Young  Man.    Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York. 


Figure  38. — Boy  with  a  Dolphin.    E.  C.  Hoyt  Collection,  New  York, 


Figure  39. — CuiuKJUM,     SS,   Apustuli,  J'Lukence. 


Figure  40. — Ciborium.    Mrs.  J.  L,  Gardner  Collection,  Boston. 


ANDREA    DELLA  ROBBIA 


99 


angels  at  SS.  Apostoli.  The  curtain  is  here  represented  within  the  central 
relief,  but  the  symbols  of  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit  are  omitted,  or 
perhaps  relegated  to  the  frame.  Even  the  symbols  of  the  Sacred  Host 
are  absent,  unless  the  disk  beneath  the  door  be  intended  to  suggest  the 
wafer.  It  may  be  observed  also  that  in  the  spandrels  above  the  vault  are 
disks  imitating  red  porphyry  against  vcrde  autico,  and  vcrdc  aiitico  against 
red  porphyry.  This  fondness  of  Andrea's  for  reproducing  porphyry  and 
verdc  aiitico.  we  have  already  noticed  in  the  altarpiece  in  the  Metropolitan 
Museum. 

In  reducing  the  vault  from  four  rows  of  cofferings  to  two,  the  sculptor 
has  not  only  lost  depth  of  perspective,  but  we  feel  that  the  vaulted  ceiling 
is  not  properly  correlated  in  depth  with  the  pavement.  In  the  Museo 
Nazionale,  Florence  there  are  two  ciboria  (Nos.  26  and  33);  in  which 
the  process  of  abbreviation  is  carried  a  step  further  and  only  one  row  of 
cofferings  is  represented.  In  these  cases  it  is  difficult  to  realize  that  a 
vaulted  ceiling  had  ever  been  in  the  artist's  mind. 

J?.  In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Martin  A.  Ryerson,  Chicago,  there  is 
another  central  relief  of  a  ciborium  ( Fig.  41).  As  it  is  in  glazed  terracotta 
it  is  natural  to  think  of  this  as  workmanship  of  the  Robbia  School,  and,  on 
account  of  its  general  resemblance  to  Mrs.  Gardner's  ciborium,  it  may  be 
considered  here.  But  the  resemblance  is  very  general,  and  consists  chiefly 
in  the  adoring  angels  issuing  from  the  sides  of  a  vaulted  hall.  This  com- 
position occurs  in  ciboria  attributed  to  Buggiano,  to  Desiderio,  to  Mino  da 
Fiesole,  and  others.  It  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  Delia  Robbias.  The 
sculptor  of  this  relief  could  not  have  had  a  very  thorough  Florentine  train- 
ing, as  may  be  seen  from  his  imperfect  grasp  of  perspective.  In  spite  of 
the  fact  that  his  ceiling  has  a  certain  amount  of  real  depth,  he  has  un- 
skillfully  counteracted  the  efifect  of  this  by  representing  all  the  rosettes  in 
the  cofiferings  as  if  they  stood  in  a  vertical  plane  facing  the  spectator.  This 
flattens  out  the  entire  vaulted  ceiling  and  makes  it  look  like  a  fan.  In  the 
SS.  Apostoli  tabernacle,  and  in  Mrs.  Gardner's,  the  floor  is  represented  as 
if  laid  in  flat  tiles,  whereas  here  it  is  indented,  so  as  to  give  the  appearance 
of  a  rough  grill  work.  A  somewhat  similar  pavement  is  shown  in  a 
marble  ciborium,  dated  1491,  and  attributed  to  the  school  of  Mino  da 
Fiesole,  in  the  Cathedral  at  Cortona.  The  draperies  of  the  two  angels 
cannot  be  said  to  have  been  executed  under  Andrea's  influence.    Hence  this 


100 


DELLA   ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


relief  may  be  assigned  to  the  Robbia  School  only  by  courtesy,  although  it 
is  not  impossible  that  it  may  have  been  executed  by  one  of  Andrea's  many 
sons,  who  had  lost,  or  never  shared,  his  father's  inspiration. 

Arms  of  the  Salviati,  Dei,  and  Frescobaldi  families  (Nos.  34-36). 

Stemmi,  or  coats  of  arms,  were  made  by  all  members  of  the  Robbia 
School.  Luca  della  Robbia  made  a  very  notable  medallion  with  the  arms 
of  Rene  d'Anjou,  and  others  for  the  Pazzi,  Serristori,  and  other  families. 
These  were  sometimes  of  considerable  size,  some  six  feet  in  diameter,  and 
employed  for  the  decoration  of  palaces,  courts,  or  gardens.  But  more  fre- 
quently stciiiiin  were  used  to  commemorate  the  holding  of  some  office, 
were  of  smaller  size,  and  accompanied  by  an  inscription.  As  these  inscrip- 
tions are  usually  dated  the  coats  of  arms  are  helpful  in  the  classification  of 
other  similarly  decorated,  but  undated  monuments.  During  the  time  when 
Andrea  della  Robbia  was  in  control  of  the  atelier  many  of  these  stemmi 
were  produced. 

34.  Three  of  these  products  of  Andrea's  work  are  now  in  the  collection 
of  Mr.  Stanley  Mortimer  at  Roslyn,  L.  L  One  contains  the  arms  of  the 
Salviati  family  and  is  set  in  a  wreath  of  pine  cones,  quinces,  grapes,  and 
other  fruit.  The  arms  of  the  Salviati  family  are:  argent,  two  bends 
bretisse  gules.  The  silver  ground  is  here  represented  by  white  and  the  red 
bands  are  violet — it  being  impossible  for  the  Robbias  to  secure,  after 
baking,  a  red  enamel.  The  Sahiati  family  were  patrons  of  the  Robbias. 
Another  medallion  with  these  arms  may  be  seen  on  the  Palazzo  Pretorio  at 
San  Giovanni  Valdarno,  set  up  in  1484  by  Bernardo,  son  of  Marco  Salviati, 
a  knight.  The  same  arms  appear  on  a  Robbia  altarpiece  in  Mr.  Henry 
Walters'  collection  in  Baltimore,  and  on  the  Lavabo  in  S.  Niccolo  da 
Tolentino  at  Prato.^^  There  is  also  a  document  which  informs  us  that  a 
Fra  Roberto  Salviati  contributed  and  raised  funds  for  the  Presepio  by 
Andrea  della  Robbia  set  up  in  the  little  church  of  S.  Maria  Maddalena  in 
Pian  di  Mugnone  in  the  year  1515.^- 

3§.  A  second  medallion  with  a  similarly  constructed  garland  and  with 
the  escutcheon  set  upon  a  white  fluted  background,  contains  the  arms  of  the 

''^  Carotti,  Archivio  Storico  deW  Arte,  vi  (1891),  pp.  112-116;  M.  Reymond,  op.  cit.,  p. 
237- 

Cruttwell,  Luca  and  Andrea  della  Robbia,  p.  312. 


Figure  41— Cibokium.    M.  A.  Rykkson  Collection,  Chicago. 


ANDREA    BELLA    ROBBIA  103 

Dei  family,  which  consists  of  a  golden  bend  and  three  golden  fleur-de-lys  on 
a  blue  background.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  polychome  frame  of  fruit,  ar- 
ranged in  groups  of  three,  according  to  Andrea's  favorite  method,  the 
bunches  of  fruit  being  separated  by  a  fluted  band. 

jd.  The  third  medallion  shows  the  arms  of  the  Frescobaldi  family. 
Stated  in  heraldic  terminology  these  are :  gules,  three  chess-rooks  argent, 
a  chief  or.  Here  the  chief,  or  upper  horizontal  section  of  the  escutcheon, 
is  covered  with  a  yellow  enamel,  for  gold ;  the  chess-rooks  are  white,  for 
silver;  and  the  ground  against  which  the  rooks  appear  is  violet,  for  red. 
It  would  be  interesting  to  discover  the  extent  to  which  the  Frescobaldi 
family  were  patrons  of  the  Robbias.  Their  patronage  probably  began  in 
Luca's  lifetime,  as  the  Berlin  Museum  contains  a  Madonna  by  Luca  della 
Robbia  which  came  from  the  Frescobaldi  palace  in  Florence.  A  few  years 
ago  I  counted  in  that  palace  alone  nearly  fifty  examples  of  Robbia  ware  of 
different  periods.  A  dozen  of  them  were  coats  of  arms.  In  the  Stanley 
Mortimer  example  the  escutcheon  is  set  upon  a  blue  fluted  disk  and  is 
surrounded  by  a  white  frame  ornamented  by  a  green  wreath  of  laurel. 
On  several  occasions  did  Andrea  employ  laurel  as  a  decorative  motive :  on 
the  console  which  supports  the  statue  of  S.  Benedetto  in  the  Duomo  at 
Borgo  San  Sepolcro,  on  the  console  of  the  relief  of  the  Adoration  in  the 
Bardini  sale  of  1902,  and  on  that  of  an  Adoration  in  the  Victoria  and 
Albert  Museum. 


Ill 

GIOVANNI  DELLA  ROBBIA 
1469-1529? 

The  work  of  Andrea  clella  Robbia  was  carried  on  by  several  of  his 
sons,  of  whom  the  best  known  is  Giovanni.  In  his  earhest  work,  as  for 
example  in  the  Lavabo  in  Sta.  Maria  Novella  (1497),  Giovanni  exhibits 
something  of  the  purity  and  charm  of  his  father's  style ;  but  even  here 
may  be  detected  signs  of  decadence.  He  soon  lost  all  sense  for  beautiful 
forms  and  strove  for  gaudy,  striking  effects.  His  most  characteristic 
works,  such  as  the  lunette  representing  the  Pieta  in  the  Museo  Nazionale 
(1521)  and  the  Tabernacle  formerly  in  the  Via  Nazionale  (1522),  show  but 
little  of  his  father's  influence,  more  of  the  mannerisms  of  Verrocchio,  and 
an  excessive  reliance  on  colour.  His  work  is  not  even  redeemed  by  a  fine 
sense  of  colour.  It  has  lost  the  variety  and  delicacy  of  Luca's  and  the 
refinement  of  Andrea's  polychromy.  It  makes  its  appeal  not  to  the 
aristocratic  patrons  of  art,  but  to  the  uneducated  masses. 

57.    The  Kneeling  Madonna  (Fig.  42). 

In  the  Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York,  there  is  a  statuette  of  the 
Madonna  on  her  knees,  with  folded  hands  (Fig.  42).  She  wears  a  veil 
which  is  glazed  in  white  and  a  mantle  of  light  blue,  the  superficial  decora- 
tion of  which  is  in  gold.  The  remainder  of  the  figure  is  unglazed.  The 
pose  of  the  Madonna  suggests  that  this  statuette  originally  formed  part  of 
a  Presepio  group,  or  at  least  of  an  Adoration  of  the  Child.  The  type  of 
the  Madonna  has  a  general  resemblance  to  that  of  the  Vanderbilt  Madonna 
already  described,  but  it  is  even  more  closely  related  to  the  Madonna  in  the 


io6 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


lunette  of  the  Lavabo  in  the  Sacristy  of  S.  Maria  Noveha,  made  by  Giovanni 
(lella  Robbia  in  1497  (Fig.  43).  We  may  note  a  general  resemblance  in 
the  features  of  both  Madonnas,  a  similar  treatment  of  the  veil,  and  of 
the  folds  of  the  drapery.  The  hands  of  the  Madonna  and  her  robe  are 
not  so  well  modelled  as  the  hands  and  robe  in  the  lunette,  suggesting  the 
possibility  that  the  statuette  was  made  by  some  admirer  of  Giovanni  who 
copied  his  mannerisms.  But  Giovanni  himself  was  seldom  as  careful  with 
his  modelling  as  when  he  made  the  Lavabo  of  1497. 

One  peculiarity  deserves  consideration^ — the  fact  that  this  figure  is  only 
partially  glazed.  Partially  glazed  statues  and  reliefs  were  common  in  the 
1 6th  century,  but  the  two  busts  on  the  Loggia  di  S.  Paolo,  as  well  as  the 
celebrated  lunette  representing  the  meeting  of  S.  F'rancesco  and  S.  Dome- 
nico,  represent  a  tendency  to  leave  the  nudes  unglazed  as  early  at  least  as 
1495.  Consequently  a  partially  glazed  statuette  is  quite  possible  in  the 
closing  years  of  the  15th  century. 

ji?     Lunette  rcprcscutiug  the  Resitrrcction  (Fig.  44). 

The  Museum  of  the  Brooklyn  Institute  has  'the  honour  of  possessing  the 
most  characteristic  example  of  Giovanni  della  Robbia's  work  in  America. 
It  is  a  lunette  representing  the  Resurrection  of  Christ.  Some  years  ago  I 
saw  it  in  the  chapel  of  the  Villa  Antinori  at  Colombali  or  Le  Rose,  a  few 
miles  outside  of  the  Porta  Romana,  Florence.  This  Villa  formerly  be- 
longed to  the  de'  Rossi  family,  but  in  1487  passed  into  the  possession  of 
Niccolo  di  Tommaso  Antinori,  and  has  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Antinori  family  to  this  day.  Niccolo's  name  appears  amongst  the  Priorsi 
of  Florence  in  1483.  In  15 14  he  was  both  Councillor  and  Prior.  In  the 
lunette  we  recognize  a  portrait  of  Niccolo,  or  perhaps  of  his  son  Alessandro 
who  was  Prior  in  1523,  with  folded  hands,  in  the  donor's  position  at  the 
feet  of  Christ.  The  Antinori  arms,  with  field  of  yellow  for  gold  and  a 
chief  lozengy  of  four  tracks  azure,  appear  at  the  base  of  the  lunette  at 
either  end. 

From  the  two  stenniii  the  garland  frame  proceeds  around  the  top  and 
across  the  base  of  the  central  relief.  The  garland  consists  of  various  fruits 
and  flowers  and  animals ;  the  fruit  being  arranged  on  the  triple  system  with 
little  or  no  separation  of  bunches,  and  united  at  the  top,  and  at  the  centre 
of  the  base,  by  some  invisible  bond.    Luca's  garlands  were  usually  asym- 


Figure  42. — Kneeling  Madonna. 
Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York. 


Figure  43. — Madonna  and  Angels.   S.  Maria  Novella,  Florence. 


'iiiiin'l>liliiliilllliniiiii        III!  Ill  I  ml' 

Figure  44. — Resurrection.    Brooklyn  Institute. 


GIOVANNI    DELLA  ROBBIA" 


1 1 1 


metrical  and  continuous ;  Andrea's  were  more  conventional  and  arranged 
in  separate  bunches;  Giovanni's  show  traces  of  Andrea's  conventions  to- 
gether with  a  disorderly  continuity.  We  are  struck  by  the  bright  colours 
of  the  fruit  and  flowers  amid  which  we  discover  snakes,  lizards,  birds,  and 
frogs.    No  appeal  is  made  to  us  by  crisp  outlines  or  fine  modelling. 

The  subject  of  the  Resurrection  had  been  treated  in  1443  by  Luca  della 
Robbia  in  a  lunette  over  one  of  the  sacristy  doors  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Florence,  and  later  by  Andrea  della  Robbia  in  a  fine  altarpiece  in  the  church 
of  S.  Bernardino  at  Aquila.  In  both  cases  the  figures  are  enamelled  in  white 
against  a  blue  background.  In  the  Brooklyn  relief  all  the  faces  are  made 
to  look  like  flesh,  the  hair  and  garments  also  are  brilliant  with  colour,  and 
the  wings  of  the  angels  are  polychromatic.  There  is  also  a  landscape  back- 
ground with  green  trees,  birds,  and  brightly  coloured  clouds.  The  angels 
lack  the  seriousness  of  Luca's  angels,  the  beauty  of  Andrea's.  They  look 
empty  minded  and  are  awkwardly  posed.  The  soldiers  are  not  all  quietly 
asleep;  three  are  awake  and  show  perturbation  of  mind.  The  sarcophagus 
is  most  crudely  indicated,  and  the  Christ,  without  inherent  dignity  or  beauty, 
is  surrounded  by  a  halo  of  forked  yellow  flames.  We  find  this  type  of 
flaming  halo  used  by  Giovanni  in  his  Assumptions  of  the  Virgin  at  Pisa 
(1520),  at  the  Ceppo  Hospital  at  Pistoia  (1525),  and  at  San  Giovanni  in 
Valdarno.  This  type  of  Christ  he  has  repeated  in  a  statuette  which  crowns 
the  altarpiece  in  S.  Stefano  at  Lamporecchio.  As  the  Lamporecchio  altar- 
piece  was  ordered  in  1524,  we  may  believe  that  the  Brooklyn  lunette  is  of 
approximately  the  same  date. 

_?p     Altarpiece  representing  the  Temptation  (Fig.  4^). 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  Robbia  works  in  America,  is  an  altar- 
piece,  representing  the  Temptation  of  Adam,  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Henry 
Walters,  Baltimore.  It  came  from  the  Lelong  collection,  Paris,  and  was 
purchased  in  December,  1902.  It  consists  of  many  parts,  which  have  been 
put  together  more  intelligently  than  when  in  the  possession  of  the  former 
owner.  One  cannot  help  feeling,  however,  that  the  altarpiece  as  it  stands 
is  not  as  originally  designed,  and  that  it  is  the  product  of  more  than  a 
single  mind.  The  lateral  frames  have  neither  bases  nor  capitals,  and  the 
cornice  is  insufficient  to  have  crowned  either  an  architecturally  constructed 
or  a  non-architectural  frame.    It  is,  however,  the  frame  and  the  predella 


I  12 


DELLA   ROBBIAS   IN  AMERICA 


that  link  themselves  most  closely  with  known  works  of  the  Robbias  and 
particularly  with  those  of  Giovanni  della  Robbia.  The  moulding  at  the 
base  of  the  predella  occurs,  with  the  same  rope  ornament  above  the  leaf  and 
dart,  in  Giovanni's  altarpiece  of  1520,  now  in  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa; 
the  pilasters  with  thick  bunches  of  fruit  rising  from  dolphin  handled  bases 
are  found  in  Giovanni's  altarpiece  of  1520  at  the  Seminario  in  Fiesole, 
and  more  attractively  in  an  earlier  work,  the  Last  Judgment  altarpiece  at 
S.  Girolamo,  Volterra ;  and  the  net  work  of  cubes  which  forms  the  ground 
for  these  panels  is  used  by  him  in  the  predella  of  the  altarpiece  of  the 
Pulci  Chapel  in  Santa  Croce.  The  lateral  frames  of  the  central  relief  pre- 
sent an  unusual  species  of  decoration,  but  in  the  altarpiece  at  Pisa  Gio- 
vanni della  Robbia  divides  his  pilasters  into  alternately  long  rectangles  and 
squares,  and  in  his  well  known  Tabernacolo  delle  Fonticine  (1522),  until 
recently  in  the  Via  Nazionale,  Florence,  he  arranges  bunches  of  fruit  in 
rising  and  pendant  bunches  set  dos-a-dos  in  each  panel. 

But  while  the  frame  and  predella  may  be  attributed  to  Giovanni  della 
Robbia,  the  central  relief  is  certainly  by  another  hand.  Giovanni  would 
have  treated  the  theme  more  pictorially  with  a  landscape  background,  and 
with  trees  lacking  the  crisp  and  plastic  quality  of  this  relief.  The  figures 
of  Adam  and  Eve  are  here  modelled  by  some  one  who  was  alive  to  the 
beauty  of  classic  sculpture.  Adam  is  like  an  Antinous  and  Eve  like  a 
Venus,  and  both  are  modelled  and  posed  with  much  more  skill  than  Gio- 
vanni possessed.  In  one  of  the  medallions  at  the  Certosa  near  Florence, 
made  in  1522,  we  can  see  a  head  of  Adam  by  Giovanni  della  Robbia  which 
shows,  even  at  that  date,  no  influence  whatever  from  classic  types.  The 
composition,  with  its  lateral  as  well  as  central  tree,  shows  a  general  resem- 
blance to  Albrecht  Diirer's  well  known  print  of  the  Temptation  of  Adam 
engraved  in  1504  and  copied  in  Italy  by  Marcantonio  in  15 10  or  1512. 
This  date  brings  us  very  close  to  the  date  of  the  altarpiece  itself,  which 
was  probably  made  and  erected  in  the  year  1515,  for  it  bears  the  inscripftion 
LEO.  X.  PONT.  MAX.  INGRESVS.  EST.  FLOTIA.XXX".  Dp. 
ADAM  PRIMVS  HOMO  DANAVIT  SECMVLA  POMO 
The  first  part  of  the  inscription  informs  us  that  Leo  X  as  Pope  entered 
Florence  on  tlie  30th  day.  This  date,  St.  Andrew's  day,  the  30th  of  No- 
vember, 15 15,  was  the  occasion  of  a  great  festival  to  which  Jacopo  Sanso- 
vino,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Baccio  Bandinelli  and  others  contributed  ephemeral 


Figure  45.— The  Temptation.   Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore. 


GIOVANNI    DELLA  ROBBIA 

works  of  art,  and  the  memory  of  which  was  preserved  by  Vasari  in  a 
series  of  frescoes  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio  (See  Vaughan,  The  Medici  Popes, 
pp.  143-147).  In  the  inscription  the  letter  D  containing  a  P  is  somewhat 
puzzling.  It  may  be  D(ie),  in  which  case  the  P  is  enigmatical ;  or  D(ecimo) 
P(rimo  Mense),  a  possible  abbreviation  for  the  nth  month;  or  D(onum) 
P(osuit)  or  D(edicavit  et)  P(osuit),  an  indication  that  the  altarpiece  was 
a  gift  or  at  least  dedicated  by  Leo  X;  or  D(omenico)  P(retore)  or 
D(onato)  P(retore),  since  a  Domenico  Alamanni  and  a  Donato  Cocchi 
each  held  the  office  of  Prior  in  1515.  The  latter  mode  of  indicating  a 
date  is  found  in  a  Robbia  monument  at  Empoli,  although  the  name  of  the 
Prior  is  there  written  out  in  full.  Here  the  full  expression  of  the  date 
would  have  left  insufficient  space  for  the  succeeding  couple*t  ADAM,  etc. 
This  brief  couplet  contains  two  errors.  The  ligature  is  carelessly  placed 
over  the  N  and  the  A  in  DANAVIT,  as  if  the  scribe  did  not  have  clearly 
before  his  mind  the  word  Daninavit.  Then,  as  if  conscious  that  he  had 
omit'ted  the  letter  M,  he  recovers  it  and  inserts  it  in  the  middle  of  the  word 
SECVLA  making  of  it  the  strang-e  word  Sccuinla.  But  this  is  not  the  only 
monument  from  the  atelier  of  Giovanni  della  Robbia  which  indicates  a 
lack  of  accuracy  in  inscriptions. 

The  coats  of  arms  bear  also  silent  testimony  as  to  the  dedication  of  the 
monument,  if  we  can  interpret  them  correctly.  The  central  arms,  with  the 
Papal  tiara  and  keys,  and  the  one  blue  and  five  red  Medici  balls 
are  those  of  Leo  himself.  The  arms  'to  the  right  show  a  combination  of 
Leo's  initials  with  a  blue  Medici  ball,  set  above  the  Salviati  arms.  It  may 
be  recalled  that  Lucrezia  de'  Medici,  sister  to  the  Pope,  had  married  Jacopo 
Salviati,  also  that  her  son  Giovanni  Salviati  had  been  made  a  cardinal  very 
early  in  Leo's  reign  (Young",  The  Medici,  I,  p.  406).  It  seems  likely  there- 
fore that  these  arms  are  those  of  the  young  cardinal.  The  arms  to  the  left, 
a  red  cross  on  six  mounts  against  a  blue  g-round  are  those  of  some  mem- 
ber of  the  Buondelmonti  family,  which  I  have  not  been  able  to  determine, 
but  it  may  be  noted  that  at  S.  Giovanni  in  Valdarno,  there  hangs  on  the 
walls  of  the  Palazzo  Pretorio  a  Robbia  stem  ma,  showing  the  Buondelmonti 
arms,  set  up  by  Antonio  di  Lorenzo  di  Messer  Andrea  Buondelmonti  de 
Montebuoni,  who  was  Vicario  at  S.  Giovanni  in  1474  and  1475.  But  as 
this  Antonio  was  one  of  the  Priors  of  Florence  in  1467,  it  is  more  likely 
that  the  Buondelmonti  whose  arms  are  on  this  altarpiece  was  a  younger  man. 


ii6 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


possibly  Bartolomeo  di  Rosso  Buondelmonti  who  married  Bianca  di  Pietro 
Medici  in  1483,  or  Filippo  di  Rosso  di  Messer  Andrea,  who  occupied  the 
ofifice  of  Prior  in  1500,  1523  and  1527.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  once 
again  the  Buondehnonti  and  Salviati  arms  are  found  together  on  the  same 
monument:  on  the  base  of  an  altarpiece  by  Giovanni  della  Robbia  in  the 
Oratorio  della  Madonna  in  San  Giovanni  in  Valdarno,  where  the  Pieve 
constituted  one  of  the  personal  benefits  conferred  upon  Leo  X  when  he  was 
still  a  cardinal. 

Where  the  Walters'  altarpiece  was  originally  located  is  no  longer  known, 
but  it  is  an  important  record  of  Leo's  triumphal  entry  into  Florence  set  up 
by  two  of  his  relatives  or  friends. 

40.  Bust  of  a  youthful  Saint  (Fig.  46). 

Mrs.  Olcott  Perkins  of  New  York  has  recently  sold  to  the  Worcester 
Art  Museum  a  round-headed  relief  showing  the  bust  of  a  youthful  saint, 
possibly  S.  Giovanni  Evangelista,  S.  Tommaso,  or  S.  Ansano.  It  is  broadly 
modelled,  and  effective,  and  bears  some  resemblance  to  Giovanni's  head  of 
S.  Ansano  at  the  Certosa,  near  Florence.^  It  has,  however,  more  classic 
dignity,  and  impresses  us  more  like  a  prototype  than  a  derivative  of  the 
Certosa  head.  It  recalls  various  youthful  saints  by  Andrea  della  Robbia, 
and  may,  with  good  reason,  be  assigned  to  his  atelier. 

41.  Head  of  Christ  (Fig.  4/). 

The  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  possesses  a  head  of  Christ,  which  we 
may  attribute  to  Giovanni  della  Robbia.  It  is  glazed  in  white,  with  no  indi- 
cation of  colour,  except  to  mark  the  eyes.  Although  in  some  details  re- 
sembling the  Christ  of  the  Antinori  Resurrection,  it  is  finer  in  expression 
and  seems  to  represent  an  earlier  type.  How  much  earlier  is  not  easy  to 
determine.  There  is  a  head  of  Christ  amongst  the  heads  decorating  the 
cloister  of  the  Certosa,  of  which  I  have  no  clear  recollection  or  photograph. 
But  the  head  of  S.  Jacopo  Maggiore  in  the  Certosa,  made  by  Giovanni 
della  Robbia  in  1522,  is  sufficiently  similar  in  general  construction  and 
detail  to  indicate  that  the  Boston  head  belongs  to  the  same  period  of  Gio- 
vanni's career.  Whether  it  was  originally  part  of  a  figure  of  the  risen 
Christ  or  of  a  Christ  with  the  Samaritan  woman  is  not  perfectly  clear. 
'Marcel  Reymond,  op.  cit.,  p.  226;  Cruttwell,  op.  cit.,  p.  242. 


Figure  47. — Head  of  Christ.   Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 


GIOVANNI    DELLA  ROBBIA 


119 


^2.    Altarpiece  representing  the  Lamentation  over  the  body  of  Christ 

(Figs.  48-49). 

The  collection  of  Mrs.  John  L.  Gardner,  Boston,  contains  an  altarpiece 
representing  the  Lamentation  over  the  dead  body  of  Christ  (Fig.  48).  It 
was  formerly  in  the  collection  of  Rev.  Dr.  Nevin,  Rome.  This  scene  is 
sometimes  characterized  as  a  Deposition.  But  the  act  of  taking  the  body 
from  the  Cross  is  not  here  depicted ;  nor  is  it  the  placing  of  the  body  in  the 
tomb.  It  is  more  properly  a  Pieta,  as  it  exhibits  pity  or  sorrow  for  the 
departed  Christ.  But  it  is  still  better  to  name  it  the  Lamentation  over  the 
body  of  Christ.  This  designation  may  be  based  on  the  text  on  the  tablet 
below,  taken  from  the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah  I,  12,  which  in  the  Vulgate 
reads:  O  VOS  OMNES  QVI  TRANSITIS  PER  VIAM  ATTENDITE 
ET  VIDETE  SI  EST  DOLOR  SICVT  DOLOR  MEVS.  These  words, 
which  expressed  the  lamentation  of  Jerusalem  over  her  misery,  are  here 
ascribed  to  the  Madonna,  or  to  the  Madonna,  S.  Giovanni,  and  La  Madda- 
lena  as  representatives  of  the  Christian  world.  The  same  words  are  in- 
scribed on  the  predella  of  an  altarpiece  by  Andrea  della  Robbia  at  La 
Verna  representing  Christ  on  the  Cross  bewailed  by  angels  and  saints. 

In  the  Museo  Nazionale  (No.  64),  Florence,  there  is  an  altarpiece 
(Fig.  49),  with  which  the  Boston  altarpiece  should  be  carefully  compared. 
The  principal  figures  are  similarly  constructed,  and  there  is  only  a  slight 
modification  of  the  composition.  In  the  Boston  relief  a  nimbus  has  been 
placed  upon  each  of  the  heads,  and  the  hands  are  posed  in  more  expressive 
attitudes.  The  dead  Christ  is  now  supported  only  on  the  knees  of  his 
mother,  is  more  relaxed,  more  livid  in  colour.  But  we  have  no  difficulty  in 
recognizing  the  handiwork  of  Giovanni  della  Robbia,  who  signed  and 
dated  (1521)  a  lunette  representing  the  same  subject,  in  the  same  style,  in 
the  Museo  Nazionale  (No.  37). 

The  landscape  backgrounds  in  the  two  altarpieces  are  somewhat  differ- 
ently treated.  In  the  Florentine  example  the  landscape  is  more  elaborate. 
We  see  not  only  the  vacant  sepulchre  and  the  stripped  crosses  at  Golgotha, 
but  hosts  of  diminutive  creatures,  possibly  the  bodies  of  departed  saints 
(Matth.  xxvii,  27,  52),  and  the  domes  and  towers  of  Jerusalem.  In  the 
Boston  example  the  landscape  is  reduced  to  simpler  terms.  The  dark  purple 
and  yellow  clouds,  which  appear  in  both  altarpieces  and  which  Miss  Crutt- 
well  aptly  compares  to  the  stripes  of  a  tiger's  back,  are  perhajDs  a  crude 


I20 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


attempt  to  indicate  the  darkness  and  atmospheric  disturbances  connected 
with  the  crucifixion.  The  cross  is  here  even  more  emphatically  represented 
than  at  Florence,  and  the  angels  bear  not  only  the  spear  and  the  sponge 
but  expose  to  view  S.  Veronica's  handkerchief.  As  in  Andrea  della  Robbia's 
crucifixion  at  La  Verna,  the  sun  and  moon  are  represented  above  the  cross 
and  a  skull  at  its  base. 

It  seems  probable  that  some  one  from  Giovanni's  atelier  assisted  him  in 
the  execution  of  the  Boston  altarpiece,  for  in  the  centre  of  the  predella  is 
introduced  a  crude  baluster,  such  as  one  finds  frequently  in  the  works  of 
Giovanni's  followers,  but  is  quite  out  of  place  in  this  monument. 

4j.    Small  relief  of  the  Lamentation  (Fig.  f,o). 

In  the  art  gallery  of  Mr.  E.  F.  Bonaventure,  New  York,  may  be  seen  a 
round-headed  relief  representing  Mary  holding  the  dead  Christ  in  her  lap. 
As  a  group  this  may  be  considered  a  reduction  of  the  larger  compositions 
just  described.  It  is  labelled  with  the  same  inscription  from  the  Lamenta- 
tions of  Jeremiah.  The  landscape  is  here  reduced  to  its  simplest  elements — 
the  hill  of  Calvary  on  which  is  planted  the  cross  and  some  crudely  indi- 
cated trees.  The  Madonna  and  the  Christ  are  just  what  we  might  expect 
from  the  atelier  of  Giovanni  della  Robbia. 

About  the  relief  is  a  fruit  and  flower  frame,  broad  and  heavy,  not  sub- 
divided into  conventional  bunches.  It  lacks  crisp  and  vigorous  modelling, 
but  is  interesting  for  the  novelty  of  the  fruit  represented.  Besides  the  usual 
grapes,  pine  cones,  apples,  lemons,  and  pomegranates,  we  see  here  a  sliced 
cucumber,  green  almonds,  bean  pods  and  walnuts.  One  of  Giovanni's  pu- 
pils seems  to  have  been  stirred  to  extend  the  composition  of  the  fruit  frame 
beyond  the  range  usually  exhibited  in  the  works  of  his  master. 

44.    Bust  of  La  Maddalcna  (Fig.  51). 

The  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts  has  had  in  its  possession  for  some 
years  a  small,  unglazed  half  figure  or  bust  loaned  by  Mr.  C.  C.  Perkins  and 
labelled  "St.  John.  Terra  cotta  of  the  XVI  century."  The  modelling  of 
the  breasts  show  that  this  is  a  woman,  and  we  may  be  practically  certain 
that  the  object  held  in  her  right  hand  was  the  vase  or  alabaster  box  of  oint- 
ment. If  we  compare  this  statuette  with  Giovanni  della  Robbia's  Magda- 
lens,  we  find  a  similar  type  of  head,  the  same  squared  cut  of  the  robe, 


From  photograph  copyriglited  by  T.  E.  Marr. 

Figure  48. — Lamentation.    Mrs.  J.  L.  Gardner's  Collection,  Boston. 


ImgukI';  41J- — Lamentation.     Museo  Nazionale,  Florence. 


Figure  50. — Lamentation.    Bonaventure  Gallery,  New  York. 


GIOVANNI    DELLA    ROBBIA  127 

and,  in  one  instance,  in  the  altarpiece  in  the  Pulci  Chapel  of  S.  Croce,  she 
carries,  as  here,  a  book  as  well  as  a  vase.  The  proportions,  however,  are 
somewhat  different,  suggesting  that  the  bust  may  be  the  handiwork  of  one 
of  Giovanni's  assistants. 

45.  Statuette  group  of  the  Madonna,  Child  and  S.  Giovannino. 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Stanley  Mortimer,  Roslyn,  there  is  a  small 
group,  partly  glazed,  of  the  Madonna  holding  the  Child  on  her  right  arm. 
The  Child  is  blessing  with  his  right  hand  and  holds  his  left  to  his  mouth. 
The  young  S.  Giovannino  to  the  right  holds  a  banner  inscribed  SCCE 
AGNV  for  ECCE  AGNV(S  DEI).  The  Madonna  wears  a  blue  mantle 
lined  green,  and  S.  Giovannino  a  gray  brown  hair  cloth.  The  nudes  and 
the  Madonna's  robe  are  unglazed.  This  group  may  be  assigned  to  the 
atelier  of  Giovanni  della  Robbia. 

46.  Medallion  of  Madonna  witJi  almost  nude  Child  (Figs.  3^-3^^). 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  E.  J.  Berwind,  Newport,  there  is  a  medallion, 
unglazed,  representing  the  Madonna  carrying  an  almost  nude  Child,  whose 
right  hand  is  extended  in  blessing  (Fig.  53). 

This  medallion,  formerly  in  tlie  Gavet  collection,  Paris,  is  an  almost 
exact  copy  of  the  Madonna  of  S.  Jacopo  di  Ripoli  in  the  Via  della  Scala, 
Florence  (Fig.  54).  The  S.  Jacopo  in  the  lunette  is  a  fairly  close  parallel  to 
Giovanni  della  Robbia's  S.  Giovanni  Battista  at  Galatrona,  and  at  the 
Certosa  (1522).  But  the  face  of  the  Madonna,  the  manner  in  which  she 
holds  the  child,  the  mannered  pose  of  her  fingers  and  the  detailed  represen- 
tations of  veins  on  the  hands  of  the  Saints,  suggest  a  closer  study  of  Ver- 
rocchio  than  is  usually  exhibited  in  Giovanni's  works.  If  not  by  Giovanni 
himself,  this  work  may  be  assigned  to  his  atelier. 

47-50.    Two  dolphin  handled  vases  and  two  bouquets  of  fruit  (Fig.  34). 

There  are  in  various  museums  and  private  collections,  vases  which  were 
undoubtedly  made  in  the  Robbia  School.  Two  of  these  in  blue  enamel, 
with  dolphin  handles,  a  scale  pattern  on  the  shoulder,  interlacings  on  the 
body  and  godrons  on  the  lower  half  of  the  vase,  are  in  the  collection  of 
Mr.  Philip  M.  Lydig,  New  York.  Almost  an  exact  parallel  to  these  vases 
may  be  seen  on  the  framework  of  an  altarpiece  at  La  Verna  representing 


128 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


the  Lamentation  over  the  dead  body  of  Christ.  This  altarpiece  may  be 
assigned  to  Giovanni  della  Robbia.  A  similar  representation  of  blue 
vases  with  dolphin  handles,  scale  pattern,  and  godrons  is  found  on  Giovan- 
ni's altarpiece  of  the  Last  Judgment  at  Volterra,  which  bears  the  date  1501. 
In  general,  however,  Giovanni  does  not  show  an  independent  or  fine  sense 
of  form  for  vases.  The  vases  represented  on  the  pilasters  of  his  lavabo  in 
S.  Maria  Novella  (1497)  derived  from  types  found  in  the  works  of 
Andrea.  Even  the  dolphin  handles,  and  the  scales  and  godrons  may  be 
seen  in  some  late  works  by  Andrea  della  Robbia  at  Arezzo. 

The  bunches  of  fruit  are  here  made  in  the  form  of  bouquets,  so  they 
find  their  places  in  the  vases  as  naturally  as  the  figured  bunches  of  fruit 
rise  from  the  figured  vases  upon  the  altar  frames.  The  fashion  for  deco- 
rating pilasters  with  fruit  and  flowers  proceeding  from  vases  in  all  prob- 
ability crept  into  European  art  from  the  Orient,  where  such  motives  were 
at  home  for  many  centuries. 

5^~54-    Candchihrnm  hearing  angels. 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  J.  Lindon  Smith,  Boston,  and  in  that  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Shields  Clarke,  New  York,  may  be  seen  glazed  terra-cotta  statuettes 
representing  candelabrum  bearing  angels.  The  Boston  examples  are  glazed 
white  and  are  posed  on  green  bases,  those  in  New  York  are  polychromatic. 
These  reflect  in  a  measure  the  types,  without  exhibiting  all  the  peculiarities, 
of  similar  angels  made  by  Giovanni  della  Robbia.  Li  form,  as  well  as  in 
conception,  they  show  a  considerable  decline  from  Luca's  candelabrum 
bearing  angels  in  the  sacristy  of  the  Cathedral  at  Florence. 


Figure  51. — La  Maddalena.    Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 


Figure  52. — Madonna.    E.  J.  Berwind  Collection,  Newport. 


Figure  53. — Madonna  and  Saints.    S.  Jacopo  di  Ripoli,  Florence. 


Figure  54. — Vase  and  Fruit.    P.  M.  Lydig  Collection,  New  York. 


IV 

MISCELLANEOUS  ROBBIA  WORKS 


In  spite  of  the  fact  that  we  have  authenticated  works  by  Fra  Ambrogio 
della  Robbia,  Fra  Mattia  deha  Robbia,  and  by  Luca  di  Andrea  della 
Robbia,  it  is  difficult  or  impossible  to  group  about  them  a  sufficient  number 
of  works  to  present  a  clear  view  of  the  various  branches  of  the  school. 
Until  more  documents  are  found  to  aid  us,  we  are  likely  to  remain  for 
some  time  in  the  dark.  It  is,  however,  probable  that  we  shall  soon  re- 
cover a  general  notion  of  the  style  and  works  of  Benedetto  Buglioni  and 
of  Santi  Buglioni,  who  were  influential  members  of  the  late  Robbia  School. 
There  are  many  monuments,  which,  at  the  present  time,  we  can  merely 
group  together,  without  specific  attribution.  One  of  these  unknown  sculp- 
tors was  strongly  influenced  in  his  types  by  Antonio  Rossellino,  another  by 
Benedetto  da  Majano,  a  third  has  a  marked  individuality  of  his  own. 

IVorks  shozving  the  influence  of  Andrea  della  Robbia  (A'os.  ^yds). 

The  influence  of  Andrea  della  Robbia  may  be  detected  in  many  monu- 
ments by  his  successors.  We  have  already  noticed  it  in  the  early  works  of 
Giovanni  della  Robbia.  We  find  it  also  in  many  other  products  of  the 
Robbia  School.  Such  influence  may  be  recognized  in  a  relief  at  Gold- 
schmidt's,  New  York,  and  in  medallions  in  the  collections  of  Mr.  Philip 
M.  Lydig  and  of  Mr.  Bradley  and  in  other  works. 

55.    Madonna  with  Child  blessing  and  holding  a  Bird  (Figs.  55-56). 

The  Goldschmidt  galleries.  New  York,  have  on  exhibition  a  round- 
headed  relief  representing  the  Madonna  with  the  Child  blessing  and  holding 
a  Bird  (Fig.  56).   It  is  provided  with  a  fruit  and  flower  frame  constructed 


136 


DELLA   ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


according"  to  canons  not  far  removed  from  those  of  Andrea  della  Robbia, 
but  more  commonly  followed  by  his  successors.  We  may  observe  here 
chestnuts,  lemons,  grapes,  pears,  pine  cones,  oranges,  cucumbers,  quinces, 
pomegranates,  peaches,  plums,  and  poppies  amongst  which  are  snails  and 
lizards,  such  as  we  have  found  in  Giovanni's  lunette  in  Brooklyn  and  in 
the  Adam  and  Eve  altarpiece  in  Baltimore.  But  this  is  not  one  of  Gio- 
vanni's frames,  nor  does  the  relief  indicate  his  handiwork.  The  Coinptes 
dcs  Bat'uncnts  du  Roi,  I,  p.  1 12,  under  date  of  1537,  describes  a  large  tondo, 
over  the  entrance  of  the  Chateau  de  Fontainebleau,  by  Girolamo  della 
Robbia,  the  garland  of  which  exhibited  "  several  varieties  of  leaves  and 
ilowers,  melons,  cucumbers,  pine  cones,  pomegranates,  grapes,  poppies, 
artichokes,  lemons,  oranges,  peaches,  apples,  frogs,  lizards  and  snails  ".^ 
We  may,  therefore,  reasonably  think  of  Girolamo  della  Robbia  as  possibly 
the  author  of  this  relief,  but  unfortunately  the  Fontainebleau  tondo  no, 
longer  survives,  and  we  have  no  other  authenticated  work  of  Girolamo's, 
which  can  be  used  as  a  standard  of  comparison. 

The  central  relief  was  apparently  made  by  some  one  who  felt  Andrea's 
influence  during  the  period  (1508-1510)  when  he  made  the  Madonna  della 
Querela  at  Viterbo  (Fig.  57).  Two  angels,  not  so  beautiful  as  Andrea's, 
hold  between  them  a  heavy  crown  above  the  Madonna's  head.  They  emerge 
from  clumsily  indicated  clouds.  A  fat  Christ  Child  blesses  with  one  hand 
and  holds  a  bird  in  the  other — the  same  motive  used  by  Andrea  at  Viterbo. 
The  Madonna  is  also  derived  from  the  same  source,  but  is  strangely  corset- 
ted  and  betrays  a  less  competent  hand.  On  the  whole,  the  central  relief  is 
distinctly  inferior  to  the  frame. 

5(5.    Madonna  adoring  the  Child  supported  by  an  Angel  (Fig.  57). 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Philip  M.  Lydig,  of  New  York,  there  is  a 
medallion  of  the  Madonna  adoring  the  child,  based  upon,  but  of  a  different 
type  from,  those  attributed  to  Andrea  della  Robbia.  It  formerly  belonged 
to  M.  Molinier  and  was  illustrated  in  the  frontispiece  of  the  catalogue  of 
his  collection.  In  the  Vieweg  collection  at  Braunschweig,  in  the  Watts 
collection  at  Guildford,  and  in  the  Museum  at  Berlin,  there  are  other  medal- 
lions by  the  same  hand.  The  Berlin  example  retains  traces  of  gilding  on 
the  garments  and  in  the  background,  and  has  a  more  elaborate  frame. 

'  Quoted  by  Cavallucci  and  Molinier,  Les  Delia  Robbia,  p.  175. 


Figure  55. — Madonna.    Goldschmidt  Galleries,  New  York. 


Figure  56.— Madonna  and  Saints.    S.  Maria  della  Quercia,  Viterbo. 


Figure  57. — Adokation.    P.  M.  Lydig  Collection,  New  York. 


MISCELLANIOUS    ROBBIA  WORKS 


The  authorities  of  the  Museum  class  it  as  in  the  manner  of  Andrea  della 
Robbia,"  and  certainly  adorations  not  very  unlike  this  were  so  frequently 
produced  in  the  atelier  of  Andrea  della  Robbia  that  this  relief  may  be 
considered  as  in  a  very  general  sense  belonging  to  the  same  class.  We 
would  like,  however,  to  direct  attention  to  an  altarpiece  in  the  church  of  S. 
Gimignano  at  Antona,  near  Massa  Carrara.    It  represents  the  Madonna  en- 
throned and  being  crowned  by  angels  in  the  presence  of  several  saints. 
This  is  a  work  which  cannot  be  assigned  to  Luca,  nor  to  Andrea,  nor  to 
Giovanni  della  Robbia.    It  has  a  character  of  its  own  and  there  are  many 
altarpieces  and  other  monuments  in  Italy  which  are  by  the  same  hand. 
Ubaldo  Mazzini,  in  an  article  entitled  Alcune  Opere  di  Benedetto  Buglioni 
in  Lunigiana,^  compares  it  with  the  documented  Resurrection  in  the  Church 
of  S.  Francesco,  Pistoia,  and  with  the  lunettes  of  the  Ceppo  Hospital, 
Pistoia,  and  of  the  Ognissanti  Church,  Florence,  and  concludes  that  the 
Antona  altarpiece  is  by  Benedetto  Buglioni.    In  our  opinion  this  work  is 
to  be  classed  with  a  large  series  of  monuments,  some  of  which  are  un- 
doubtedly by  Benedetto  Buglioni ;  but  Benedetto's  style  has  not  yet  been 
firmly  established,  nor  has  it  been  clearly  distinguished  from  tliat  of  Santi 
Buglioni,  while  by  many  critics  it  is  still  confused  with  that  of  Giovanni 
della  Robbia.    Mazzini's  attribution  may  be  correct,  but  the  evidence  for  it 
is  not  entirely  conclusive.    However  this  may  be,  the  Antona  altarpiece  is 
crowned  by  a  lunette  containing  a  representation  of  the  Nativity.  The 
Holy  Family  is  represented  in  a  rocky  landscape  set  with  trees.    On  the 
left  S.  Giuseppe  is  seated  in  his  usual  pensive  attitude,  on  the  right  are 
diminutive  heads  of  the  ox  and  the  ass,  and  a  crib.    In  the  centre  is  the 
Madonna  adoring  the  Child,  who  is  supported  by  an  angel.    The  Lydig 
medallion  is  an  excerpt  from  this  composition,  without  modification  to  adapt 
it  to  a  plaque  of  circular  form.    Not  merely  the  composition,  but  the  model- 
ling is  the  same  in  both  cases.    It  is  important  to  note  the  identity  of  this 
composition  with  that  of  the  Antona  lunette,  even  though  we  leave  the  de- 
termination of  authorship  for  the  present  unsettled. 

57.    Nativity  with  S.  Giovannino  ( Fig.  ^8 ) . 

Mr.  Edson  Bradley,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  possesses  a  medallion  of  a 

Nativity  based  on  one  of  the  types  used  by  Andrea  della  Robbia.  The 

'  Bode  and  Tscliudi,  Beschreibung  der  Bildwerke  der  christlichen  Epoche,  p.  40. 
^  Giorn.  Star,  e  lett.  della  Liguria,  1905. 


BELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 

scene  is  set  in  a  rocky  landscape  with  trees.  From  the  heavens  descends 
the  Holy  Dove.  S.  Giuseppe  and  the  Virgin,  the  ox  and  the  ass,  are  in  rapt 
admiration  of  the  Child,  who  reclines  on  crudely  indicated,  light  yellow  hay 
or  straw.  S.  Giovannino,  who  appears  only  in  the  later  products  of  the 
school,  is  here  unusually  small  and  his  customary  haircloth  is  omitted.  A 
similar  Giovannino  with  floating  mantle,  but  with  the  haircloth  tunic  clearly 
expressed,  occurs  in  a  tondo  of  an  altarpiece  at  Fabbrica  in  Val  d'  Era, 
dated  1504.  The  fruit  and  flower  frame  is  based  on  Andrea's  canons,  but 
contains  various  modifications  found  only  in  the  works  of  his  followers. 

^8.    Natk'ity  zvith  three  cherubs  and  Dove. 

The  collection  of  Mr.  Julius  S.  Bache,  of  New  York,  contains  a  round- 
headed  relief  representing  the  Nativity.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  narrow  fruit 
frame  and  is  set  on  a  console  or  bracket.  It  is  slightly  polychromatic:  S. 
Giuseppe  has  a  yellow  staff,  the  ox  is  yellow,  the  ass  blue,  and  the  Child  is 
set  in  light  green  hay  in  a  light  violet  basket.  All  the  haloes  are  yellow. 
In  the  sky  is  the  Floly  Dove  and  three  cherubs — the  only  accessories  which 
remain  of  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis.  The  Accademia  di  Belle  Arti  of  Siena 
contains  a  Nativity  of  somewhat  similar  quality,  equally  removed  from 
Andrea's  established  types. 

5p.    The  Holy  Family  (Fig.  ^p). 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Charles  P.  Taft,  of  Cincinnati,  there  is  a  damaged 
medallion  representing  the  Holy  Family.  The  fruit  and  flower  frame  is 
composed  in  accordance  with  Andrea's  canons.  The  central  relief  is  de- 
rived from  Andrea's  Nativities,  though  not  very  close  to  them  in  style. 
The  landscape  is  slightly  indicated  by  some  distant  hills.  The  Child  rests 
on  an  uncomfortable  bed  of  hay.  The  Madonna  exhibits  traces  of  An- 
drea's influence,  but  the  S.  Giuseppe  in  his  intensity  of  expression  is  based 
on  some  other  prototype.  Figures  of  a  somewhat  similar  character  may  be 
seen  on  a  font  in  the  church  at  Rignano. 

60.    The  Nativity  ivith  the  Stable  (Fig.  60). 

The  late  Mr.  Charles  C.  Perkins  presented  to  the  Boston  Museum  of 
Fine  Arts  a  polychromatic  Nativity,  in  which  appears  a  thatch-roofed 
stable.    Not  possessing  the  C|uality  of  fine  workmanship  it  has  been  rele- 


Figure  s8. — Nativity.    E.  Brapley  Collection,  Washington. 


Figure  59— Holy  Family.    C.  P.  Taft  Collection,  Cincinnati. 


Figure  6o. — Nativity.    Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 


i  it.uRE  6i. — Nativity  and  Saints.   Museo  Nazionale,  Florence. 


MISCELLANIOUS    ROBBIA  WORKS 


153 


gated  to  the  student  collections  in  the  basement.  Our  interest  in  the  relief 
lies  chiefly  in  its  relationships.  Its  closest  analogues  are  the  altarpiece  from 
the  monastery  of  San  Vivaldo  at  Montaione,  now  removed  to  the  Museo 
Nazionale,  Florence  (Fig.  61),  and  a  similar  altarpiece  in  the  Chiesa  delle 
Monache  Augustiniane  at  Poppi.  The  Boston  relief  presents  the  same  type 
of  S.  Giuseppe,  of  huge  proportions,  and  a  somewhat  similar  Virgin,  back- 
ground, and  stable ;  the  Dove  is  added,  but  the  angels,  shepherds  and  ador- 
ing saints  are  omitted.  In  these  works  the  influence  of  Andrea  della  Robbia 
is  reduced  to  a  minimum  and  that  of  Antonio  Rossellino  is  more  evident. 
They  belong  to  a  class  of  works  produced  when  Santi  Buglioni  was  an 
active  worker  of  the  Robbia  School. 

61.  Medallion  head  of  a  Child  (Fig.  62). 

Mr.  Charles  P.  Taft  of  Cincinnati  possesses  a  medallion  with  the  head 
of  a  child.  The  frame  shows  a  garland  of  flowers  with  studied  variety  in 
the  successive  bunches.  Who  the  garlanded  child  may  be  we  do  not  at- 
tempt to  determine.  Italian  marble  busts  of  boys  sometimes  represented  the 
Christ  Child,  or  S.  Giovannino,  or  mere  portraits,  and  the  same  is  true  of 
the  busts  of  children  from  the  Robbia  factory.  There  are  charming  busts 
of  boys  in  the  Museo  Nazionale,  Florence,  and  in  the  Cluny  Museum,  Paris, 
and  less  important  relief  busts  in  medallions  in  the  oratory  of  S.  Ansano 
near  Fiesole.  The  Taft  medallion  may  be  classed  with  the  late  products  of 
the  Robbia  School,  when  busts  of  all  kinds  in  medallions  were  not  uncom- 
mon. It  is  not  directly  to  be  connected  with  the  works  of  Andrea,  nor  is 
it  easy  to  relate  it  to  any  other  Robbia  master. 

62.  Fragment  representing  Fra  Leo. 

From  the  storeroom  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  has  been  recovered  a 
fragment  of  an  altarpiece,  which  originally  represented  the  scene  of  S. 
Francesco  receiving  the  stigmata.  The  remainder  of  the  altarpiece  may 
still  be  in  Italy  or  scattered  in  foreign  lands.  The  fragment  in  the  Metro- 
politan Museum  represents  the  monk,  supposed  to  be  Fra  Leo,  who  accom- 
panied S.  Francesco.  He  may  be  seen,  much  in  the  same  attitude,  on  the 
altarpieces  at  Barga,^  at  Citta  di  Castello,  and  in  predella  scenes  elsewhere.* 
He  shrinks  with  fear  at  the  supernatural  appearance  of  the  crucifix  in  the 

'  Schubring,  op.  cit.,  Abb.  150. 

*  Marcel  Reytnond,  op.  cit.,  pp.  165,  170,  205. 


154 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


sky.  His  flesh  tints  are  pinl<,  his  gown  gray.  The  hillside  of  La  Verna  is 
coloured  to  represent  nature,  and  through  it  runs  a  white  stream  of  water 
on  the  banks  of  which  are  a  yellow  stag  and  a  black  sheep. 

The  subject  of  S.  Francesco  receiving  the  stigmata  was  not  uncommon 
in  the  works  of  Andrea  della  Robbia,  and  we  should  expect  the  fragment  in 
the  Metropolitan  Museum  to  reflect  his  style.  It  is,  however,  not  very 
closely  related  to  Andrea,  nor  yet  to  Giovanni,  but  may  nevertheless  be 
classed  in  general  as  a  product  of  the  Robbia  School. 

Works  by  a  follozvcr  of  Rossclliiio  (Nos.  6^-66). 

The  man  whom  we  designate  as  a  follower  of  Rossellino  might  also  be 
recognized  under  the  title  of  the  Sculptor  of  the  Madonna  of  the  Lilies. 
He  was  apparently  enamoured  of  Antonio  Rossellino's  Madonna  at  Solarolo 
near  Faenza,*"  of  which  a  free  rendering  in  stucco  may  be  seen  in  the 
Louvre.*^  For  the  Christ  Child  he  sometimes  follows  Desiderio  da  Settig- 
nano,  and  at  times  Benedetto  da  Majano. 

dj.    Madonna  of  the  Lilies  zvitli  standing  Child  ( Fig.  6j). 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Charles  P.  Taft,  Cincinnati,  is  a  Madonna  with 
slightly  draped  Child  standing  on  a  cushion.  It  came  from  the  Hainauer 
collection,  and  is  declared  by  Dr.  Bode  to  be  the  best  of  its  class — other 
reliefs  of  the  same  subject  being  found  in  the  Louvre,"  and  in  the  Museo 
Nazionale,  Florence.^  The  Madonna  reflects  the  style  of  Rossellino,  and 
the  Child  that  of  Desiderio.  The  Child  standing  on  a  cushion  we  have  al- 
ready found  in  the  works  of  Andrea  della  Robbia,  but  these  types  are  not 
Andrea's,  and  the  background  of  lilies  is  a  feature  which  this  sculptor  re- 
peats in  other  works.  There  are  various  reliefs  by  the  same  sculptor  rep- 
resenting the  Adoration  of  the  Child — in  the  Gavet  collection,  Paris;  in  the 
Museo  Njazionale,  Florence in  the  University  Museum,  Perugia ;  and 
another  formerly  in  the  Casa  Castracane,  Urbino,^"  in  which  the  same  types 
recur  with  the  same  lily  stalks  in  the  background. 

"  Bode,  Denltmdler,  Taf.  332.    Attributed  also  to  Francesco  di  Simone.    See  Venturi, 
op.  cit.j  vi,  730. 
'  Alinari  photORraph,  No.  22327. 
'  Alinari  photograph,  No.  22381. 
"  Alinari  photograph,  No.  2764. 
'  Brogi  photograph,  No.  9496. 
Cavallucci  and  Molinier,  Les  Delia  Robbia,  p.  148. 


Figure  62. — Head  of  a  Child.    C.  P.  Taft  Collection,  Cincinnati. 


Figure  63. — Madonna.    C.  P.  Taft  Collection,  Cinicinnatti. 


MI  SCELLANIOUS    ROBBIA  WORKS 


64.  In  the  collection  of  Mr.  E.  J.  Berwind,  Newport,  there  is  a 
replica  of  the  Taft  Madonna,  not  so  fine  in  quality. 

65.  Madonna  of  the  Lilies,  suckling  the  Child  (Fig.  -64). 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Philip  M.  Lydig,  New  York,  there  is  a  medal- 
lion by  the  same  hand.  It  represents  the  Madonna  of  the  Lilies  seated  in 
a  barren  landscape  suckling  her  Child.  The  Madonna  resembles  closely  the 
Taft  Madonna,  but  the  type  of  the  Child  has  changed,  being  no  longer 
derived  from  Desiderio.  In  all  probability  this  medallion  was  once  sur- 
rounded by  a  garland  frame  of  fruit  and  flowers. 

66.  Madonna  of  the  Lilies,  suckling  the  Child  (pig.  65). 

Mr.  Henry  Walters,  Baltimore,  has  also  a  Madonna  of  the  Lilies,  suck- 
ling the  Child.  The  Madonna  is  here  presented  nearly  full  length,  occupy- 
ing so  much  of  the  field  that  the  landscape  background  is  omitted.  The  two 
lily  plants,  however,  are  retained.  The  type  of  the  Madonna  has  been  some- 
what modified.  It  is  no  longer  quite  so  close  to  that  of  Rossellino.  The 
round  faced  Child  tells  also  of  a  new  influence,  possibly  that  of  Benedetto 
da  Majano.  This  relief  is  surrounded  by  a  Robbia  frame,  which 
exhibits  the  eclectic  spirit  of  the  later  members  of  the  school.  The  scale 
pattern  which  Luca  della  Robbia  had  used  in  the  frames  of  the  medallions 
in  the  Portogallo  Chapel  at  S.  Miniato,  and  which  was  seldom  if  ever  used 
by  Andrea  and  Giovanni  della  Robbia,  is  here  revived  in  connection  with  a 
fruit  and  flower  garland  of  late  design. 

(5/.    Work  by  a  follozver  of  Benedetto  da  Majano  (Fig.  66). 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Philip  M.  Lydig,  New  York,  there  is  a  medal- 
lion from  the  Lanna  collection,  Prague,  showing  a  half  figure  of  the  Ma- 
donna carrying  in  her  left  arm  the  nude  Child,  who  blesses  with  his  right 
hand  and  holds  in  his  left  a  bird.  The  subject  is  familiar  to  us  in  works  of 
the  Robbia  School.  The  type  of  the  Madonna  is  not  far  removed  from 
Giovanni's  in  the  lunette  of  the  lavabo  (1497)  in  the  sacristy  of  S.  Maria 
Novella."  But  it  is  even  more  closely  related  to  a  medallion,  No.  22  in 
the  Museo  Nazionale,  Florence,  attributed  to  Benedetto  da  Majano,  since 

"Bode,  Denkmaler,  Taf.  276;  Cruttwell,  Luca  and  Andrea  della  Robbia,  p.  216;  Rey- 
mond,  Les  Delia  Robbia,  p.  228;  Schubring,  Luca  della  Robbia,  Abb.  141. 


i6o 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


it  is  almost  an  exact  copy  of  Benedetto's  medallion  above  the  sarcophagus 
of  Filippo  Strozzi  (1491-1493)  in  S.  Maria  Novella.^-  Possibly,  therefore,, 
it  is  an  early  work  of  Giovanni's,  although  more  likely  to  have  been  exe- 
cuted by  one  of  Giovanni's  associates  or  followers. 

Works  by  tJic  Sculptor  of  the  Morgan  Altarpiccc  (Nos.  68-'/ 

We  have  here  classed  six  works  together,  which  have  enough  in  common 
to  permit  us  to  assign  them  to  the  same  author.  This  sculptor  was  evi- 
dently a  dominating  personality,  whose  influence  is  seen  not  only  in  Flor- 
ence, but  at  Empoli,  Barga,  Cutigliano,  S.  Casciano,  Pistoia,  Prato,  Pisa, 
Poppi,  Porrena,  Antona,  S.  Flora,  and  Bolsena.  His  works  vary  in  merit, 
reminding  us  sometimes  of  Andrea,  again  of  Giovanni,  and  again  of 
Desiderio  or  other  Florentine  sculptors.  Whether  he  is  to  be  identified 
with  Benedetto  Buglioni,  or  whether  he  may  have  been  one  of  Andrea's 
many  sons  we  must  leave  for  future  discussion.  It  is  enough  that  we  begin 
to  assemble  his  works,  at  least  those  of  them  which  happen  to  be  in 
America. 

68.    The  Morgan  Altar  piece  (Fig.  6/). 

There  was  exhibited,  until  very  recently,  in  the  Renaissance  Room  of 
the  Metropolitan  Museum,  an  altarpiece  representing  the  Madonna  en- 
throned between  S.  Girolamo  and  S.  Nliccolo  di  Bari  (Fig.  68).  It  was 
loaned  to  the  Museum  by  Mr.  Junius  S.  Morgan,  and  as  it  is  a  very  char- 
acteristic example  of  its  class  we  may  for  the  time  speak  of  its  author  as 
the  sculptor  of  this  altarpiece.  The  monument  is  inscribed  with  the  name 
of  the  donor.  Sister  Catarina,  daughter  of  Tomaso  di  Salvestro  di  Nuc- 
carello,  and  bears  the  date  1502.  On  the  predella  we  see  the  family  arms, 
scenes  from  the  lives  of  S.  Girolamo  and  S.  Niccolo,  and  a  Pieta,  separated 
from  each  other  by  balusters,  which  frequently  recur  in  the  works  of  this 
sculptor.  The  frame  of  the  altarpiece,  with  its  pilasters  decorated  with 
candelabra  and  its  elaborate  frieze,  already  heralds  the  advent  of  the  High 
Renaissance.  This  sculptor  uses  a  similar  predella  and  entablature  in  the 
altarpiece  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  at  Empoli. In  both  altarpieces 
the  central  panel  is  comprised  of  a  central  figure  or  group  with  a  standing 

"  Bode,  Dcnicmaler,  Taf.  358. 
"  Alinari  photograph,  No.  10123. 


Figure  64. — Madonna.    P.  M.  Lydig  Collection,  New  York. 


Figure  65.— Madonna.    Walters  Collection,  Baltimore. 


Figure  66.— Madonna.    P.  M.  Lydig  Collection,  New  York. 


MISCELLANIOUS    ROBBIA  WORKS 


167 


saint  on  either  side.  The  Madonna  recalls  the  Madonnas  of  Giovanni  della 
Robhia,  while  the  standing"  saints  remind  us  of  the  saints  of  Andrea  della 
Robbia.  But  this  sculptor  does  not  confine  himself  to  Robbia  types.  The 
Christ  Child  in  the  Morgan  altarpiece  is  inspired  by  Desiderio's  Christ 
Child  on  the  Tabernacle  in  S.  Lorenzo,  but  in  the  Empoli  altarpiece  the 
angelic  host  in  the  clouds  is  borrowed  from  Antonio  Rossellino's  altarpiece 
for  the  church  of  Monte  Oliveto,  Naples.  The  style  of  this  sculptor  be- 
came more  individualized  and  fixed  by  1 520  when  he  made  a  lavabo  in  the 
church  of  S.  Niccolo  da  Tolentino  at  Prato  and  an  altarpiece  of  the 
Madonna  between  S.  Domenico  and  S.  Francesco  now  in  the  gallery  of  the 
Innocenti  Hospital  at  Florence  (Fig.  68). 

6g.    Madonna  and  Child  hctzvccn  tzvo  angels  (Fig.  6p). 

In  Mr.  Walters'  collection,  Baltimore,  may  be  seen  a  three-quarter 
length  figure  of  the  Madonna  supporting  a  nude  Christ  Child,  who  stands 
upon  a  cushion,  blessing  with  his  right  hand  and  in  his  left  holding  a 
crown  of  thorns  and  two  large  nails.  The  Child  is  here  obviously  a  copy 
of  Desiderio's  Christ  Child.  The  Madonna  has  a  general  resemblance  to 
that  of  the  Morgan  altarpiece.  The  adoring  angels,  associated  with  this 
Madonna  when  it  belonged  to  Don  Marcello  Massarenti,  Rome,  are  crudely 
conceived,  but  exhibit,  nevertheless,  some  resemblance  to  the  flying  angels 
in  the  Innocenti  altarpiece.  This  Madonna,  with  the  adoring  angels,  may 
well  have  decorated  a  lunette  over  a  door  or  above  an  altarpiece. 

70.  Bust  of  tJic  Madonna  (Fig  /o). 

A  more  accomplished  representation  of  the  same  wistful  Madonna  may 
be  seen  in  an  unglazed  bust,  also  from  the  Massarenti  collection  and  now  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  Walters,  Baltimore.  As  in  the  preceding  example,  we 
see  the  same  prominent  forehead,  downcast  eyes  and  long  nose,  but  a 
more  expressive  mouth  and  the  characteristic  corkscrew  curls.  The  sculp- 
tor of  these  Madonnas  hatl  a  fondness  for  drawing  one  end  of  the  scarf 
across  the  Madonna's  breast. 

71.  Siuiilar  bust  of  the  Madonna. 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Stanley  Mortimer,  at  Roslyn,  there  is  a  replica 
of  this  bust,  partially  glazed.    She  wears  a  light  blue  scarf,  with  green 


DELLA    ROBBIAS    IN  AMERICA 


reverse,  drawn  across  the  breast,  which  is  covered  with  a  tunic  or  robe 
of  dark  blue. 

^2.    Madonna  zvith  Child  sfa)iding  on  a  pedestal  (Fig.  fi). 

Once  again  in  Mr.  Walters'  collection  do  we  find  a  Madonna  by  this 
sculptor.  The  Madonna,  in  three-quarter  length,  holds  to  the  right  the 
lightly  draped  Child,  who  stands  on  a  pedestal.  The  Child  is  unglazed, 
as  is  also  the  Madonna's  face,  hair,  and  hands.  She  wears  a  white  scarf 
drawn  across  the  breast,  a  blue  mantle  with  green  reverse,  and  a  crude 
violet  robe.  The  type  of  the  Madonna  differs  little  from  the  preceding 
busts.  We  may  notice  the  white  pedestal  on  which  the  Child  stands,  a 
motive  used  by  Andrea  della  Robbia  in  the  lunettes  of  S.  Maria  della 
Quercia,  Viterbo,  and  of  the  Cathedral  at  Pistoia.  The  type  of  the  Child 
no  longer  follows  Desiderio,  but  resembles  the  more  independent  type  in 
the  altarpiece  in  the  Innocenti  Hospital. 

7J.    The  green  glazed  Madonna  and  ChUd  (Fig.  ^2). 

The  Walters'  gallery  in  Baltimore  contains  still  another  Madonna,  more 
or  less  closely  connected  with  the  series  we  have  studied' — the  full  length 
standing  Madonna  carrying  the  almost  nude  Child  on  her  left  arm.  This 
is  a  most  unusual  production  inasmuch  as  it  is  entirely  covered  with  a  light 
green  glaze.  I  can  recall  only  one  other  example  where  such  an  experiment 
was  tried.  In  modelling  it  is  not  as  strong  as  the  examples  we  have  cited. 
It  is  hardly  to  be  assigned  to  the  same  sculptor,  but  to  some  assistant,  or 
more  recent  copyist,  who  has  caught  the  mannerism  of  the  corkscrew  curls 
and  who  endeavors  to  produce  the  same  type  of  Child. 


Figure  67— Madonna  and  Saints.    Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York. 


Figure  ()8. — 


Madonna  and  Sainis. 


InNUI-KNTI    ilubl'lTAL,  FlOKENlE, 


Figure  6g. — Madonna  and  Angels.    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore, 


Figure  70. — Madonna.    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore. 


Figure  71. — Madonna,    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore, 


Figure  72. — Madonna.    Walters'  Collection,  Baltimore. 


INDEX 


Accademia,  144. 
Adam,  ill,  112,  136. 
Adoration,  15,  64,  67,  77,  103, 

105,  154- 
Agnolo,  Via  dell',  2,  7. 
Alabaster,  120. 
Alessandra,  67. 
Alessandro,  106. 
Alinari,  45,  54,  89,  154,  160. 
Altarpiece,  29,  36,  63,  64,  67, 

68,  78,  85,  86,  III,  112,  115, 

119,  120,  127,  128,  136,  144, 

153,  160,  167,  168. 
Altman,  B.,  i,  2,  7. 
x\mbrogio,  Fra,  della  Rohbia, 

135- 

American  Journal  of  Arch- 
aeology, 7,  IS,  78. 

Andrea  della  Robbia,  8,  IS, 
21,  29,  35,  36,  46,  53,  54, 
63,  64,  68,  77,  78,  85,  86,  89, 
go,  100,  103,  ICS,  III,  119, 

120,  128,  135,  136,  143,  153, 

154.  159.  160,  167,  168. 
Andre,  Madame,  21. 
Angels,   15,   16,  21,  29,  77, 

78,  85,  90,  99,  III,  119,  120, 

128,  136,  167. 
Ankle,  35,  36. 
Antinori,  21,  106,  116. 
Antinous,  112. 
Antona,  143,  160. 
Antonio,  115. 
Apple,  7,  8. 
Aquila,  85,  86,  iii. 
Arezzo,  29,  36,  54,  67,  78, 

8s,  86,  89,  128. 
Arsoli,  64. 
Ashmolean,  77. 
Ass,  16,  77,  143,  144. 
Assisi,  86. 

Assumption,  68,  78,  85,  86, 
III. 

Ave  Maria,  77. 
Bache,  J.  S.,  45,  144. 
Backgrounds,  29,  36,  46,  64, 

103,  III,  112,  119,  136,  I  S3. 

154. 

Baldinucci,  35. 
Baldovinetti,  46. 


Baltimore,  45,  67,  in,  136, 

IS9,  167,  168. 
Baluster,  120,  160. 
Balustrade,  3s. 
Bambini,  29,  85. 
Bandinelli,  112. 
Banner,  127. 
Baragazza,  63. 
Bardini,  2S,  3S,  36,  S3,  103. 
Barga,  153,  160. 
Bartolomeo,  67. 
Bastianini,  2S. 
Beckerath,  A.  von,  16,  22. 
Belmont,  Mrs.  O.  H.  P.,  30. 
Bench,  25. 
Benkard,  64. 

Berlin  Museum,  8,  2S,  45,  63, 

86,  89,  103,  136. 
Bernardo,  100. 
Berwind,  E.  J.,  77,  86,  127, 

159. 
Bianca,  67. 
Bibbiena,  86. 

Bird,  21,  35,  45,  135,  136,  159. 
Blessing,  30,  36,  159,  167. 
Bliss,  Mrs.  George  T.,  7,  8, 
IS- 

Bode,  I,  2,  7,  8,  15,  16,  21, 

45.  54,  63,  89,  143,  154,  159, 

160. 
Bolsena,  160. 
Bonaventure,  E.  F.,  120. 
Borgo  S.  Sepolcro,  86,  103. 
Boston,  36,  46,  85,  1x6,  119. 

120,  128,  144,  153. 
Boston,    Museum    of  Fine 

Arts,  IS,  46,  85,  116. 
Bouquets,  127,  128. 
Boy,  89,  90. 
Bradley,  E.,  135,  143. 
Braunschweig,  136. 
Brogi,  46,  154. 
Bronze,  2,  25,  89. 
Brooklyn,  106.  in,  136. 
Brooklyn  Institute,  Museum, 

106. 

Buggiano,  99. 

Buglioni,  B.,  135,  143,  153, 
160. 

Buglioni,  S.,  135. 


Buondelmonti,  67,  89,  115, 
116. 

Bust,  25,  89,  106,  120,  153, 

167,  168. 
Byzantine,  7. 
Calvary,  120. 
Camaldoli,  54. 
Campana,  25. 
Campanile,  7. 
Campo  Santo,  36,  112. 
Candelabrum,  128,  160. 
Canessa,  36. 
Canigiani,  45. 
Careggi,  Villa,  90. 
Carocci,  21,  63. 
Carotti    (Archivio  Storico 

dell'Arte),  100. 
Casa  Castracane,  154. 
Castellani,  90. 
Catarina,  160. 

Cavallucci  and  Molinier,  25, 

53,  136,  154- 
Cave,  86. 
Ceiling,  99. 
Ceppo,  III,  143. 
Cerchi,  53. 

Certosa,  112,  116,  127. 
Qiair,  29,  35,  36,  45,  54,  63. 
Cherub,  29,  30,  35,  36,  45,  53, 

54,  63,  67,  68,  77,  78,  85,  86, 
144- 

Chess-rooks,  103. 

Chicago,  68,  99. 

Child,  I,  2,  7,  8,  16,  21,  22, 
30,  35,  36,  45,  46,  S3,  54,  63, 
64,  77,  78,  105,  127,  135, 
136,  143,  144,  IS3,  154,  159, 
167,  168. 

Chin,  2. 

Christ,  III,  116,  119,  120,  128, 

.136,  153,  154,  167. 
Ciborium,  90,  99. 
Cincinnati,  144,  153,  154. 
Cintola,  68. 

Citta  di  Castello,  54,  63,  90, 
153. 

Clarke,  T.  S.,  128. 

Clouds,  29,  35,  53,  54,  63,  68, 

77,  III,  119,  136,  167. 
Cluny  Museum,  2,  67,  153. 


INDEX 


■    Coat  of  Arms,  15,  77,  100, 

IIS- 
Coffering,  99. 
Colombali,  106. 
Colour,  25. 

Composition,  8,  21,  22,  36, 

45,  53,  54,  63,  64,  77,  78, 
85,  119,  120,  143. 

Cord,  2. 

Coronation,  67,  68,  85. 

Cortona,  99. 

Crib,  16,  143. 

Cross,  78,  119,  120. 

Crown,  68,  167. 

Cruttwell,  2,  15,  46,  89,  116, 

119,  159. 
Curtain,  99. 

Cushion,  22,  53,  54,  63,  64, 

154,  167- 
Cutigliano,  160. 
David,  89. 
Dei,  100,  103. 

Desiderio,  25,  99,  154,  159, 

160,  167,  168. 
Dolor,  119. 
Dolphin,  89,  90. 
Dolphin  handled  vases,  112, 

127,  128. 
Donaldson,  35. 
Dove,  35,  53,  54,  63,  64,  68, 

77,  90,  144,  153. 
Draped,  8,  36,  168. 
Drapery,  21,  25,  45,  106. 
Dreyfus,  G.,  45. 
Diirer,  112. 
Dutuit.  53- 

Empoli,  115,  160,  167. 
Enamel,  25,  103. 
Endicott,  W.  C,  Jr.,  36. 
Eve,  112,  136. 
Eyelarows,  30,  78,  89. 
Eyes,  2,  8,  22,  25,  78,  85,  89, 

116,  167. 
Faenza,  154. 

Father,  30,  64,  68,  77,  86. 

90,  99. 
Family,  Holy,  144. 
Ferroni,  36,  78. 
Fiesole,  89,  112. 
Filippo,  116. 
Fingers,  21. 

Florence,  i,  21,  25,  29,  35,  45, 

46,  53,  54,  64,  68,  86,  90, 
103,  106,  III,  112,  119,  120, 

143,  153,  154,  159,  167- 
Flowers.  29,   120,  135,  144, 

159. 

Foiano,  29,  85,  86. 

Fonticine,  112. 

Foot,  54.  63. 

Foulc  collection.  15,  45. 

Frame,   112,  120.   128,  136, 

144,  159,  160. 
Frankfurt.  64. 
Frescobaldi,  100.  103. 
Fruit,  29,  30,  45,  54,  67,  89, 

106.  112,  120,  127,  128,  135, 
144,  159- 


Galatrona,  127. 

Gardner,  Mrs.  John  L.,  25, 

90,  99,  119. 
Garland,  29,  36,  67,  77,  89, 

90,  100,  106,  153,  159. 
Gavet,  E.,  7,  30,  78,  86,  90, 

127,  154- 

Genoa,  16. 

Ghiberti,  7. 

Gilding,  15,  136. 

Giovanni  della  Robbia,  35, 
36,  53,  54,  63,  77,  89,  105, 
106,  III,  112,  115,  116,  119, 
120,  127,  128.  135,  136,  143, 
159,  160,  167. 

Girdle,  15,  30,  63,  68. 

Glaze,  25,  78,  106,  116,  127, 
128. 

Gloria   in   excelsis,   15,  64, 

67,  68,  144. 
Godrons,  127,  128. 
Goldschmidt,  135. 
Golgotha,  119. 
Gothic,  7,  8. 
Gould,  CharLes  W.,  25. 
Green   glaze.  168. 
Guildford,  136. 
Hainauer,  154. 
Hair,  8,  22,  64. 
Halo.  21,  30,  64,  78,  III,  144. 
Hamburg,  54. 
Hand,  64,  106. 
Hay,  68,  77,  144. 
Head,  21,  78,  86,  89,  116,  120, 

153- 
Homo,  112. 
Host,  Sacred,  90,  99. 
Hoyt,  Mrs.  E.  C,  90. 
Hunt,  Mrs.  Holman,  22. 
Immaculate  Conception,  160. 
Impruneta.  i.  2,  15,  16,  90. 
lugressus.  112. 
Innocenti  Hospital.  2,  29,  85, 

167,  168. 
Tonic,  30. 

Tris.  30,  78,  85,  89. 
Jamaica  Plain.  8,  22,  35. 
Jerusalem,  119. 
Johnson,  John  G.,  25. 
Kahn,  Otto  H.,  16. 
Kerchief,  2,  22. 
Kneeling,  105. 
Knees,  63.  64.  105,  119. 
Krefeld,  16. 

Lamentation.  119,  120,  128. 
Lamporeccliio,  iii. 
Landscape,  78,  iii,  112,  no, 

120,  143,  144,  159. 
Lanna,  159. 
Lari,  35,  36. 

I,ast  Judgment,  112,  128. 
Laurel,  103. 

Lavabo,  54,  100,  105,  106,  128. 

159.  167. 
Leaf  and  dart,  112. 
Legnaia,  21. 
Lelong,  III. 
Leo,  Era,  153. 


Leo  X,  112,  115,  116. 

Liechtenstein,  22,  36,  53,  89. 

Lilies,  22,  154,  159. 

Loggia  di  S.  Paolo,  106. 

London,  22,  35,  68. 

Lorenzo,  67,  90. 

Louvre,  35,  46,  86,  154. 

Luca  della  Robbia,  i,  2,  7, 
8,  15,  16,  21,  22,  25,  29,  36, 
53,  77,  85,  89,  90,  100,  103, 
159- 

Luca  di  Andrea,  135. 
Lucca,  45. 
Lucrezia,  115. 

Lunette,  i,  2,  7,  16,  21,  29, 
46,  54,  63,  67,  90,  ICS,  106, 
III,  119,  127,  136,  143,  159, 
168. 

Lu.x  Mundi,  2. 

Lydig,  P.  M.,  127,  135,  136, 
143,  159- 

Maddalena,  119,  120. 

Madonna,  i,  2,  7,  8,  16,  21, 
22,  25,  29,  30,  35,  36,  45,  46, 
53,  54,  63,  64,  67,  77,  78,  85, 
86,  103,  105,  106,  119,  120, 
127,  13s,  136,  143.  154,  159, 
160,  167,  168. 

Majano,  Benedetto  da,  135, 
154,  159,  160. 

Mandorla,  85,  86. 

Mantle,  7,  8,  15,  30,  45,  78, 
105,  144,  168. 

Marcantonio,  112. 

Marquand,  Henry  G.,  7,  89, 
90. 

Massa  Carrara,  143. 
Massarenti,  Marcello,  167. 
Mattia,   Fra,  della  Robbia, 
135- 

Mazzarosa,  45. 

Mazzini,  N.,  143. 

Medallion,  7,  53,  54,  64,  77, 
89,  100,  103,  112,  127,  135, 
136,  143,  144,  153.  159,  160. 

Medici,  46,  68,  115. 

Messina,  45. 

Metropolitan  Museum,  78, 
86,  89,  105,  153,  IS4,  160. 

Mino  da  Fiesole,  99. 

Minturn,  R.  S.,  63. 

Misericordia,  86. 

Molinier.  136. 

Monache,  153. 

Monk,_25,  153. 

Montaione,  153. 

Monte  Oliveto,  167. 

Montepulciano,  29,  86. 

Montevarchi,  86. 

Morgan,  J.  P.,  16,  25. 

Morgan,  J.  S.,  160,  167. 

Mortimer.  Stanley,  77,  100, 
103,  127.  167. 

Mouth,  2,  7,  22. 

Miinchener  Jahrbuch,  8. 

Museo  Industriale,  68. 

21,  45,  53,  54,  64,  68,  99, 
105,  119,  153,  154,  159. 


INDEX 


j\luseum  f.  Kunst,  54. 
Museo  Nazionale,  i,  7,  8,  16, 
Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  15, 

46,  85,  116. 
Nails,  167. 
Naples,  167. 

Nativity,  15,  16,  64,  67,  77, 

86,  143,  144. 
^eck,  21,  35,  36. 
Nevin,  Dr.,  119. 
Newport,  30,  77,  86,  127. 
New  York,  7,  16,  36,  45,  54, 

63,  77,  78,  90,  105,  116,  120, 

127,  128,  13s,  136,  144,  153, 

159-  _ 
Niccolo,  106. 
Niche,  7,  8,  15,  46. 
Nobili,  I. 
Nose,  2,  22,  167. 
Nuccarello,  160. 
Nude,  8,  21,  35,  36,  45,  46, 

53,  63,  106,  127,  159,  167. 
Ognissanti,  143. 
Oil,  Holy,  90. 
OlcHiii,  go. 

Opera  del  Duomo,  i,  15,  46. 
Or  San  Michele,  i. 
Osservanza,  68,  85. 
Ox,  16,  77,  143,  144. 
Oxford,  77. 
Falazzo  Bianco,  16. 
Palazzo   Pretorio,  89,  100, 
115- 

Palazzo  Riccardi,  67. 

Palazzo  Vecchio,  115. 

Palermo,  54,  68. 

Panis  vivus,  90. 

Paris,  7,  21,  30,  45,  53,  78, 

86,  89,  90,  III,  127,  153, 

154- 

Pazzi,  I,  2,  67,  100. 
Pedestal,  46,  168. 
Peretola,  i. 

Perkins,  C.  C,  46,  120. 
Perkins,  Mrs.  Olcott,  116. 
Perugia,  154. 
Pescia,  i,  53. 
Petit  Palais,  53. 
Philadelphia,  25. 
Piazza  deir  Unita  Italiana, 
46. 

Pieta,  105,  119. 

Pilaster,  112,  160. 

Pillow,  78. 

Pinacoteca,  63. 

Piombino,  78. 

Pisa,  III,  112,  160. 

Pistoia,  15,  63,  67,  III,  143, 

160,  168. 
Plaque,  86. 

Polychromatic,   22,   45,  86, 

III,  128,  144. 
Polychromy,  105. 
Pomo,  112. 
Poppi.  153,  160. 
Porrena,  160. 


Porphyry,  85,  99. 
Portogallo  chapel,  16,  159. 
Prague,  45,  159. 
Prato,  29,  46,  67,  100,  160, 
167. 

Predella,  86,  112,  119,  120, 

153.  160. 
Presepio,  105. 
Prime,  W.  C,  53. 
Princeton,  53. 
Prior,  115,  116. 
Priori,  77. 
Prudence,  16. 
Pugliese,  F.  del,  77. 
Pulci,  112,  127. 
Putti,  90. 

Querela,  S.  Maria  della,  15, 

21,  136,  168. 
Rene  d'Anjou,  100. 
Repetti,  35. 

Replica,  35,  53,  64,  68,  90, 
167. 

Resurrection,  106,  iii,  116, 
143- 

Reymond,  2,  7,  15,  46,  63,  67, 

68,  89,  100,  116,  153,  159. 
Ribs,  7,  8. 

Richardson,  Mrs.  T.  O.,  85. 
Rickmansworth,  35. 
Rignano,  144. 
Robinson,  25. 

Robbia,  see  Fra  Ambrogio 
della  Robbia,  Andrea  della 
Robbia,  Giovanni  della 
Robbia,  Luca  della  Robbia, 
Luca  di  Andrea  della  Rob- 
bia, Fra  Mattia  della  Rob- 
bia. 

Rome,  36,  68,  78,  89,  119. 

Rope  ornarnent,  112. 

Rose,  Le,  106. 

Roses,  25. 

Rosette,  30,  99. 

Roslyn,  77,  100,  127,  167. 

Rossellino,  135,  153,  154,  159, 

167. 
Rossi,  106. 

Round-headed,  68,  77,  116, 

120,  135. 
Rovezzano,  22. 
Rudolfinum,  45. 
Ryerson,  M.  A.,  68,  77.  99. 
Saints,  78,  85,  86,  119,  127, 

167. 

Salviati,  100,  115,  116. 

Samaritan,  116. 

S.  Andrea,  22. 

S.  Ansano,  89,  116. 

S.  Benedetto,  103. 

S.  Bernadino,  78,  85,  in. 

S.  Bonanentura,  78. 

S.  Casciano.  53,  160. 

S.  Chiara,  86. 

S.  Croce,  68,  112,  127. 

S.  Domenico,  2,  106,  167. 

S.  Donato,  53,  78. 


S.  Egidio,  21,  35. 
S.  Flora,  86,  i6d. 
S.   Francesco,   78,  85,  106, 

143,  154,  167. 
S.  Gaetano,  29,  30,  35. 
S.  Gimignano,  143. 
S.  Giobbe,  i. 
S.  Giovanni,  119. 
S.  Giovanni  in  Valdarno,  89, 

100,  III,  115,  116. 
S.  Giovannino,  53,  78,  127, 

143,  144,  153. 
S.  Girolamo,  112,  160. 
S.  Giuseppe,  15,  16,  143,  144, 

153- 

S.  Jacopo  Maggiore,  116. 

S.  Jacopo  Minore,  2. 

S.  Jacopo  di  Ripoli,  127. 

S  Lorenzo,  86,  167. 

S.  Maria  delle  Grazie,  67. 

S.  Maria  Novella,  54,  105, 

106,  128,  159,  160. 
S.  Maria  Nuova,  29,  35,  53. 
S.  Maria  della  Palma,  77. 
S.  Maria  della  Scala,  45. 
S.  Miniate,  i,  16,  159. 
S.  Niccolo  di  Bari,  160. 
S.  Niccolo  in  Gurgo,  68. 
S.  Niccolo  da  Tolentino,  100, 

167. 

S.  Sepolcro,  160. 
S.  Stefano,  in. 
S.  Stefano  a  Campoli,  53. 
S.  Trinita,  i. 
S.  Veronica,  120. 
S.  Vivaldo,  153. 
SS.  Apostoli,  90,  99. 
Sansovino.  112. 
Sarcophagus,  85,  iii,  160. 
Sarto,  Andrea  del,  112. 
Scala,  Via  della,  46,  127. 
Scale  pattern,  127,  128. 
Scarf,  167,  168. 
Schifif.  M.  L.,  77. 
School  of  Andrea,  77. 
Schubring,  2,  15,  21,  25,  54, 

63.  153,  159. 
Scroll,  I,  2,  7,  68. 
Seated,  22,  30,  36,  45,  53,  54, 

63.  159- 
Secmula,  1 12,  115. 
Segni,  35. 
Seminario,  89,  112. 
Sepulchre,  119. 
Serristori,  100. 
Sevres,  45. 

Shaw,  Mrs.  Quincy  A.,  8, 

15.  22,  35. 
Siena,  29,  68,  85,  86. 
Simon,  Eduard,  8,  22. 
Simonetti.  89. 
Smith,  J.  L.,  128. 
Solarolo.  154. 
Soldiers,  in. 
Spirit,  Holy,  30,  68,  gg. 
Snitzer,  89. 
Stable,  86,  133,  144. 


INDEX 


Staedel  Inst.,  64. 

Standing,  21,  35,  36,  45,  46, 

63,  154,  168. 
Statue,  29. 

Statuette,  89,  90,  105,  in, 

120,  127,  128. 
Stemma,  89,  100,  106,  115. 
Stia,  21,  54. 
Stroganoff,  G.,  89. 
Strozzi,  25,  67,  160. 
Swaddling,  30,  35. 
Tabernacle,  99,  105,  112,  167. 
Taft,  C.  P.,  144.  153.  154,  159. 
Tassels,  63. 

Temperance,  2,  in,  112. 
Thorns,  167. 

Tondo,  45.  S3.  63.  64,  136. 
Trinity,  36,  90. 
Turban,  22. 

University  Museum,  154. 


Untermyer,  S.,  77. 
Urbino,  i,  2. 

Valdarno,  89,  100,  iii,  115. 
Vanderbilt,  Mrs.  C,  54,  105. 
Vasari,  i,  85,  115. 
Vase,  120,  127,  128. 
Vaulted,  99. 

Veil,  7,  22,  45,  53,  54,  64,  77, 

90,  105,  106. 
Venice,  i. 
Venturi,  7. 
Venus,  1X2. 
Verde  antico,  99. 
Verna,  La,  29,  64,  67,  68,  85, 

119,  120,  127,  154. 
Verrocchio,  90,  105,  127. 
Via  della  Scala,  46,  127. 
Via  Nazionale,  105,  112. 
Vicario,  89,  115. 


Victoria  and   Albert  Mus- 
eum, 22,  25,  35,  45,  68,  103. 
Vienna,  8,  22,  36,  53,  89. 
Vieweg,  136. 

Virgin,  16,  22,  30,  78,  85,  144, 
153- 

Viterbo,  15,  54,  168. 
Volterra,  112,  128. 
Wafer,  99. 

VV'alters,  Henry,  45,  67,  68, 
100,  III,  159,  167,  168. 

Ward,  Samuel  G.,  36. 

Ward.  Thos.  W.,  36. 

Washington,  36,  143. 

Watt's  Collection,  136. 

Worcester  Art  Aluseum, 
116. 

Wreath,  100. 

Yonkers,  77. 

Zeitschrift,  16,  21. 


GETTY  RESEARCH  jj^ 


